Eye Candy
by Joker-is-sexy
Summary: A much darker and twisted Joker/OC story. This is not the cliche, Joker takes hostage and she falls for him within a day story. Insanity doesn't happen overnight. Insanity is a process.
1. The Party

I feel like a lot of the Joker/OC pairings are good out there, but its just so unrealistic how fast the OC falls for the Joker. They always seem to enjoy the first time he rapes them. It's so random and unexpected for them to have any feelings other than hate and pure dislike for the Joker after being beaten and raped by him. I think there needs to be a plot point/person to cause such feelings to appear and even at that, if feelings do appear of lust and want from the OC to the Joker I think it should take a long ass time for it to happen, because its not normal for someone to be raped and the next day go "HEY! I LIKE YOU AND THE FACT YOU SEXUALLY VIOLATED ME! MARRY ME!" It's just not right. I know it happens in some cases, but it seems a bit iffy to me. That's why in this story it will take a while for any remote feelings of affection or trust to appear in the OC towards the Joker. I want to keep what a normal sane person would do in a traumatic experience with the Joker. I want to keep realistic reactions and give it a 'trying to survive' feel to it for most of the time.

My Joker, may be off a bit. I intend to use mainly Heath's, throw in a bit of Hamill's, dare I say an ounce of Jack's. The Joker may not be to some of you's liking as we each have a vision of what he may do in this situation, and this situation and this situation and so on, since many of the situations in this story don't happen in a comic, or movie or such. I wouldn't say this is going to be a romance, or even maybe a one sided romance. I'm not sure. Think what you will, interpret what you will.

Grammer mistakes, I'm slowly going back through and trying to fix. I'm not perfect.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

The dark blue car pulled into the parking lot belonging to the large tower with the word _Wayne_ spread across the top in white lettering. Nichole who was seated in the passenger seat let out a great drawn out sigh, making perfectly sure the driver of the car who was also her closest friend heard her sigh. Tom rolled his eyes at her as he cut the engine of the car, throwing his keys into his coat pocket.

"Nichole please, just try to act like you're enjoying yourself when we get upstairs. This party is after all for Harvey Dent. You should be thankful Gotham has finally gotten a good DA and not treating this like you are about to enter a funeral." He told her playfully, squinting in the dim light provided in the orange glow of the overhanging lights lining the streets of Gotham City. He adjusted his tie while looking through a hand held mirror Nichole had handed him as he spoke.

"I will. I will. But I swear if we have to sit down to eat and I don't know what fork to use and end up looking like an idiot..." She laughed, putting the mirror back into her ratty old purse she had found in her storage closet a few hours before heading out.

"Don't worry about that. If it's anything like Bruce's last party I went to, all it will be is everyone standing around talking to each other. Sorry no beer pong at this party." He chuckled at her faking a face of disappointment.

Tom had asked her to come to Bruce's Havery Dent fund-raising party with him, because he had no one to go with, and he didn't want to show up to _a _Bruce Wayne party dateless. All his other friends were out of town at the moment. So he asked his good friend Nichole Stevens to pretend to be his date. He had to practically beg Nichole to get her to say yes as she was, to be quite honest, not the party type anymore. Sure in college she had been a party animal, doing the things that could cause her to go to jail; underage drinking and smoking illegal substances, but after college she told herself enough was enough. She was not going to waste anymore time in her life partying away and not remembering what she did the previous night.

Though maybe if the party Tom was asking her to go with him was an informal party, she would have said yes instantly and not have him begging her for a week straight to go. Informal parties were the only type of parties she knew. No food placed out on large extravagant tables with fountains of chocolate dip running down them. No fancy dresses and business men discussing politics to their heart's content. No rich playboy millionaires walking around with ten females groping at him. No cops and lawyers chatting up a storm. None of that.

She liked the informal parties. The ones where one would tell five or six people to come over and bring some beer to watch a football game, and then over a hundred people would show up and dance all night long and watch sports. _Those_ were Nichole's type of parties.

So upon hearing Tom wanted her to go to Harvey Dent's fund-raising party, she was not looking forword to going. But she wasn't going to say no to Tom. He was her best friend and had done many things for her in the past, so it was only fair for her to grin and bear it at this party.

Tom of course knew Nichole's hate for formal parties, and told her if some of his other friends were in town he'd ask them, but it summer was about to start and most people went away from Gotham to get a head start on relaxing on a beach for a few weeks.

"Don't forget Tom..." Nichole said as they left the car and headed into the building's main enterance. "...to not leave me alone with the people at the party. I don't think I'll be able to relate to any of them! And if I see a celebrity at this party, it will be so obvious I'm not like everyone else since I'll be the only one staring open mouthed at a famous person! Hell I've never seen Bruce Wayne in person before. I may just freeze up if he walks by me!"

"Well you can relate to me...So just hope that they all act like me." He grinned at her as he showed the usher his invitation and then lead Nichole into the elevator.

"If they all act like you I'll eat my hat." She joked, in complete disbelief the people in the party were all like Tom.

Tom was in the lower rich class. He had a lot of money, but not enough that would make it known to the whole world. He lived in his own house, though only one floor it was furnished with expensive items. He also was able to pay for his college with no loans at all and in full. He was some sort of businessman, though Nichole never could fully grasp the concept of what Tom exactly did when he explained it to her.

Nichole met Tom in high school. They both attended Gotham High PS #218. They became very close, but only as friends of course. Then they both attended the same college. They had chosen to go to a college outside of Gotham City; not wanting city life or hell just to even be in Gotham their entire life. College was one of the best times of Nichole's life. Her and Tom grew even closer and made loads of new friends, which she still sees now and then in person, but mainly chat with on the phone now a days. She thinks it was that point in her freshmen year of college she really developed her crush on Tom.

She always knew she liked him, from the moment they became friends in high school. Of course though, almost all the other girls liked himas well. Tom was considered to be the jock of the school, and had another girlfriend every month. Nichole was just the best friend, that other girls would not grow jealous of, because it was in everyone's mind set that friends were all the two would ever be. In college though, being away from the cliche clics of high school, Nichole and Tom's new friends all saw the connection they had and would often pester Nichole behind Tom's back that the two should date. She often wondered if they did the same to Tom when Nichole wasn't around. But Nichole was content to keep her crush hidden. Of course she flirted with him, but to him it must seem like her personality or just being playful and joking.

But of course once college was over they returned to the grim city of Gotham.

Nichole was barely able to afford the house she bought, but managed due to Tom. She felt guilt that he helped her, but was very thankful. He helped her out with paying it off and he bought her a gift upon receiving her new house. A dog, which she named Atticus after her favorite book character in _To Kill A Mocking Bird. _Nichole was very big into books. The places they would bring her and her mind. She tore through most of Gotham's public book stores and there was never a moment in her spare time that a book would not be within her arm's length.

The elevator slowly went higher and higher and Nichole's nerves rose with each floor they passed.

The main reason for her nerves were the people inside the party. All of Gotham's upper class. All of them were lawyers, doctors, physiologists, judges, cops, millionaires, you name it, the party has it.

And then there was Nichole. A twenty three year old high school teacher. Low income; Lower class. Not that she minded it at all. She was content with her life as it was. She'd rather be doing a job she loved, than try to go into some complex field of work just to make more money. Teaching was a joy to her, now that she had the hang of it.

Though she would not admit it, there was still many times she had a bit of jealous feelings inside of her whenever Tom would be able to freely spend his money without caring about prices. Okay, maybe honestly she wasn't content with her financial situation, but it wasn't something she would fret about everyday. Just the occasional jealous feelings whenever someone would drive by in the summer time with an expensive car. Nichole did not even own a car, not because she could not afford one, but because she didn't see the point. Walking and taking a cab was fine with her. Saved money.

And god knows now a days, she needed all the money she could get.

As the elevator doors opened she instantly regretted what she wore. She had picked out a simple black skirt, a white button-up blouse, black ballet flats and since it was a bit chilly out she wore over her outfit a long black jacket that stopped just above her knees. She eyed up and down the women at the party and saw every women in that party had a designer dress on. No skirts; No blouses. She hoped no one noticed the increasing red coloring on her cheeks. All she wanted was to fit in at the party, but it was now painfully obvious she did not belong.

She looked like a waiter compared to everyone else. She wondered when someone would come up to her and ask her to get them a drink.

Nichole wasn't drop dead gorgeous, but she wasn't disgustingly ugly. She would always be another face in a crowd of her peers at parties or out in Gotham streets. Her looks would not turn men's head everyday and every moment, though on a occasion a side glance of curiosity or interest. At bars men would approach her and flirt, but they would also approach other girls as well. In some men's eyes she was pretty, in other's there was always someone better than her.

Nichole to say it at the least...was average.

Her simple eyeliner and a bit of blush for makeup looked like cheap pharmacy store makeup (which really it was) compared to every other women's beautiful makeup dressed on their faces. Another thing she noticed is most of the women had their hair done up, she guessed done professionally, but Nichole simply had done her hair like she normally would. Down and wavy. She didn't like to wear her hair up. It made her feel exposed and forced her to have nothing to hide behind.

An actual waiter passed by her. They were even better dressed than her.

_This is going to be a long night..._ She thought to herself as the elevator doors closed behind them.

The room had golden walls and long white tables lined the opposite wall holding dozens of different foods and wines. People were scattered everywhere chatting loudly with one another. The space was large and the ceiling was high, giving Nichole the feeling of being small. The room belonged to Bruce Wayne of course and it was his current residence until the manor was rebuilt, but it looked like he had changed an office space into his own living space, since there was actual restrooms on the wall closest to Nichole, labeled for the appropriate gender.

She linked arms with Tom, giving him a small pat on the forearm, as they made their way into the wide decorated room. Tom lead them to the center where Harvey Dent stood chatting with a few people Nichole didn't recognize. Hell she didn't recognize anyone at the party, since didn't take the time in her life to learn the names and faces of Gotham's finest. She only knew the face of Harvey, and Bruce Wayne. She would never admit this out loud, but she found Bruce to be quite good looking. It was every women's fantasy to be with him, but Nichole knew deep down he must be a real stuck up jerk as he did give off that vibe in the tabloids. Placing her celebrity crush into the back of her mind she noticed Tom and her were now right next to Harvey.

Tom tapped his back, and Harvey turned around smiling. "Heya Tom."

"Hi Harvey. Congratulations, you really deserve this. Ole Bruce really knows how to throw a party." He glanced at Nichole. "Oh...excuse my rudeness. This is Nichole Stevens. Nichole, Harvey. Harvey, Nichole." Nichole shook hands with Harvey putting on her best forced mile. It wasn't hard for her to fake one. She had to all the time whenever she was chatting with her boss at work.

"Very nice to meet you Harvey. I'm so glad you are trying to turn Gotham on the right path." She wanted to choke herself. She sounded so goody-two-shoed. Personally, she had nothing against Harvey, it was just very intimidating to be placed in front of a man that could easily look stuff up about you behind your back. Nichole mentally cringed at her paranoid self. She taught high school history, so upon learning the many corrupt things governments do, she never trusted those with ties to them. It was a bad habit of hers. Many times she had to remind herself to stop thinking to compare things in the present to the things in the past that she taught in her class.

Harvey beamed at that sentence, thinking she was being honest. "Thanks. It is very nice to meet you too. Now if you two will excuse me, it seems my girl Rachel has run off somewhere."

Tom laughed. "See ya Harvey." He glanced at Nichole, who let out another sigh as she noticed a few women staring and whispering to one another. By the look on their faces, they were criticizing Nichole's outfit to one another.

"What's wrong now?" He asked nudging her side.

"Nothing...it's just all these people. They know I'm not one of 'them.'" She said making quotation marks in the air. She definitely was the only one of Gotham's middle class at that party, and this fact embarrassed her. She felt just so out of place, not used to the fancy life. "Those people over there...They are staring at me. They are looking at this ridiculous outfit I manged to throw together. Seriously Tom, you don't know how long I was going through my closet to find something decent to wear. All the dresses I own would make me look slutty here..." She glanced around one more. "But maybe I should have worn one of them, because it appears slutty is the new thing." She scrunched her nose.

"Nonsense. Harvey didn't notice you were a poor person-" Tom began, in a joking manner to make her feel better, but Nichole hung her mouth open in shock, deeply offended. Tom felt a wave of guilt sweep over him as he realized how wrong his words came out.

"No no that's not what I meant! Nichole I'm sorry! I meant that jokingly! I didn't mean it like that I...I mean...I meant to say..Ugh I'm sorry!" He hung his head.

She let go of his arm, shooting a glare in his direction. "Well I'm just going to go to the bathroom. Maybe I can find a job to be a janitor in there, since that's what "common" people like me do! We actually _work_ to get our money, unlike you and half the other people here who inherited it from their filthy rich parents!" She stomped off to the bathroom, with Tom mentally kicking at himself behind her.

She started to walk away, but turned around and grinned at Tom's frown. "Cheer up I was only kidding too." She patted his cheek. "I'm just going to use the bathroom okay? Make sure when I get back out here I can find you with ease. I don't want to be alone with these people."

He laughed, tapping her nose with his finger once. "Alright. And hey since I am the driver for you, maybe to calm your nerves you could go drink something. Don't even lie, I saw you eyeing the tower of wine glasses." He winked at her.

"Ya caught me." She confessed with a smile. She walked away towards the bathroom, feeling the slight butterflies in her stomach that she always felt around Tom. They never seemed to go away.

* * *

Meanwhile just outside Wayne Tower, a black van had pulled up to a back entrance of the building. Seven men exited the van, loading their guns while standing around just outside their van. One of them grew impatient and reached for the door to enter the tower, when a purple gloved hand quickly bat away his hand.

The Joker licked his lips giving a dead stare to that man in the clown mask. "Now I want to explain something to you **all**." The six masked men all turned their heads to face the Joker as he spoke. "If things-" He made gestures with his hands as he talked. "Don't go according to _plan-nah_... grab the nearest person and use them as a uh...meat shield." He grinned at that last word liking the sound of it and the meaning behind it.

Just as he viewed people of Gotham City. Pieces of meat that were destine to slaughter one another.

One of the men perked his head not fully grasping what the Joker meant. "Meat shield?"

The Joker gave him a confused look before grabbing the man head and pulling him in front of him. He turned the man so that man's back faced him. He grabbed his gun and pressed it into the side of the man's head.

He grinned licking his lips again. "Now men...This." He tapped the gun on the side of the man's head. "THIS...is a meat shield. A person used so no one can attack you without harming the person placed in front of you...And since The Bat-_tah_-man is bound to show up and killing isn't in his forte, that is our escape plan. Batman won't harm the innocent and once we get down here back to the van and all is safe we simply-" The Joker pulled the trigger and his henchman in front of him fell to the ground, blood squirting out of his head rapidly. It began to soak through a few of the other men's shoes.

The Joker cracked his neck. "Dispose of them."

He let out a small laugh as he pushed the doors open, scanning the lobby for an elevator. He was very offended no one invited him to this party for Harvey Dent and he was determined to show them just how offended he was.

* * *

After going to the bathroom, Nichole remained in her stall. She placed her elbows on her knees and her hands on the side of her face as she hunched over in her seat. She rubbed her face in her hands, feeling tense as she sat.

She just wanted to go home and snuggle in front of her portable heater with a nice book or a good _Lifetime_ movie, but sadly she knew she might be stuck at this party until Tom took her home. Walking was out of the question. Yes it was close to summer time, but honestly a walk down Gotham City past the sunset is a bad idea. Hell walking down the street in daylight was a bad idea. Though she didn't mind walking in the mornings and afternoons to her job, she never set foot in Gotham at night without someone with her.

This party was everything she knew it was going to be. A place full of rich snobs that think they control Gotham City, due to their money and high class. Maybe she was vain to assume that, since she knew Tom and he was very very nice and rich. But he had a cocky side. A very cocky side. Only thing that bugged her about him.

She felt the need to relax. She was the type of person that cared what other people would say about her. Anything negative would hit her hard. She would consider herself to have low self esteem, but she knows she has some. She knew what she was good at and what she wasn't, but if anyone insulted her on any level, it would be like a blow to the gut.

She needed to calm down right about now and knew just how to do it.

It was time to use her relaxer.

She reached in her purse and grabbed her music player, quickly turning it on and blaring the music into her ears.

Music was the only thing that could make her feel _really _and _truly _happy. It was rare a person could make her 100 percent happy, but music...music didn't ever stop or change. It was perfect. It flowed and took her far away from the party. To her own world where everything was perfect and organized and no harm came to her. No bills, long lines at coffee shops, and most importantly no overly rich people staring you down for not being in a designer dress. Yes this was her world of make believe. She sat there for maybe five minutes taking in every sound and syllable her favorite song played into her delicate ears; Unaware of all the events happening just outside the bathroom; Too into her music to hear gunshots and screams.

After her song ended she shut her music player off, and furrowed a brow upon hearing almost no sounds coming from the main party room.

_Bruce Wayne must be making a toast or something..._She thought as she placed her music player back into her purse and exited her stall.

She sighed taking a quick look at herself in the mirror, fixing her smudged eyeliner from when she was rubbing her face in her hands. The reflection she saw was just a face in the crowd in normal day, and here at the party it was, in her mind, the caged animal everyone would point and throw food at. She gave up trying to make herself look more formal, not really caring anymore at this point and headed back into the party room, looking down fixing her fake gold bracelet.

Transfixed on it and not really paying attention to what she was about to walk into...

* * *

The Joker had just stopped giggling. Throwing that Rachel girl out the window and watching Batman fly after her was just too much for him.

It was _hilarious_.

He turned around to face everyone when he realized three of his five men were knocked out from Batman's little fight. Only two of his guys and him were left, and only he had a gun. The other's had, had their guns flung out of their hands in the battle. The stupid bat had kicked the guns away.

He rolled his eyes.

He began to notice a few of the male party goers were starting to grab bottles and break them to create weapons. Some were even searching the ground for the guns that were kicked out of the goon's hands.

"Oh how cute." The Joker mumbled sarcastically. They want to see if they can overpower the Joker and his men now that only one gun was in the playing field.

He made his way to the opposite side of the room standing just outside the bathroom entrance, trying to find the elevator, as it was being blocked from his line of sight by the crowd. His henchmen had noticed too that the party goers were about to attack them and started to do the same.

The Joker was about to start shooting randomly at everyone, until he saw a figure walk by to the left of him.

He instinctively grabbed the person from behind by their wrist and twisted it forcefully behind their back. He then pressed his gun deeply into the side of their head. He heard many people gasp, and the person he had just grabbed for his meat shield screamed. It was at that moment he realized the person he grabbed was a female.

Just his luck.

People freaked out more when women or children's lives were threatened.

It was common knowledge.

It was the way humanity was.

Nichole screamed, as the grip on her wrist was very painful and so sudden. It felt like it was starting to form a bruise right then and there. At first she tried to twist her body so she could try and leave the grip of the person behind her, but when she felt the gun on the side of her head she stopped struggling. She looked at the crowd of people in front of her to see if she could see what was going on.

She met eyes with Tom. His face showed he was terrified. She mouthed "Help me" to him.

His pain filled eyes, looked down as he mouthed "Sorry." to her. He couldn't help her. Not without risking his own life. But she wanted him to do something. Anything! She wanted someone to come and get her out of whoever-had-a-gun-to-her's grip. Hell she would be fine with Batman coming even.

She could see two men in clown masks starting to walk towards the elevator they finally found, by shoving the crowd out of the way.

_Clown masks..._ She thought to herself. Her eyes widened as she thought about the news reports she had seen the past few days. _Oh my lord no...THE JOKER! FUCK!_

"Now _ev-ery-one _needs to put down their little weapons, or this...I'm sorry what's your name beautiful?" The Joker asked. He had bent down a bit so his mouth was by her ear. He tugged on her wrist to emphasis he was talking to her.

"Nichole." She said between her teeth while grunting in the sharp pain his tug produced. It was like her mind was going blank. Her stomach was in a tight knot that kept tightening as the seconds passed by. She could smell a very bad odor coming from the Joker behind her. A dangerous smell of gasoline and guns. If that was even a smell...

"We wouldn't want Nikki here to get hurt-tah...now would we?" He asked the crowd of people. His tone was very calm and his words flowed out his mouth like her music would flow into her ears.

Nichole was taken aback for a moment. No one had ever called her Nikki except her mother. Nikki sounded too childish to her and she would always ask for people to call her Nichole. Plain and simple. Though many people often spelled it wrong.

There was a low mumble in the room, as people were whispering to each other, debating their options.

Nichole let out another small unexpected scream as The Joker pushed her forward, by pushing her wrist, gun still painfully pressed into her head.

He didn't even look down at her. In fact he didn't look at her once since he grabbed her. He wasn't interested in his meat shield's appearance, he was more interested in the elevator's doors that he had his eyes locked on.

He said with mocking care as she struggled to break free of his grasp, "Oh shush shush shush." He rubbed the gun back and forth on the side of her head to "soothe" her.

She felt the bile in her stomach start to rise slowly. She had to swallow to avoid throwing up.

There was some fears that one just could not start to cry from. This was one of them. Her body was too in shock to process the command in her mind telling her to cry.

He backed into the elevator, grinning at the horrified looks on people's faces. He let go of her wrist and gave a small wave to everyone "Hope you enjoyed tonight's show but sadly we most bid you _adieu." _

Nichole could see out of the corner of her eye his purple gloved hand wave to the crowd. She swallowed hard once more, trying to calm herself down as the elevator doors shut. She could freely turn around to look into the eyes of The Joker, but if she did, she would surely start screaming.

In the elevator, she felt so small. The space they were in felt as if it was closing in on them. The closed elevator door showed a blurred reflection, so she could see a blob of purple standing behind her as well as two other men.

It was dead silence as they made made their way to the basement level. The Joker was spacing out thinking about where Batman might be at this very moment, and Nichole was trying to control her heart rate so she wouldn't have a heart attack.

The doors open, and the Joker handed the gun to one of his henchmen and said quietly to him. "You lead bub." The masked man obeyed quickly and placed the gun on the back of Nichole's head, grabbed her wrist and twisted it behind her back again.

Nichole was slightly thankful this man's grip on her wrist was not as tight as the Joker's.

He walked her forward toward a back door. As they got outside, they walked to their black van parked under a street light a few yards away. One man, with no mask on, was sitting in the drivers seat waiting for them.

Nichole grunted in pain at each step trying to get herself free, her poor wrist was not used to all this pressure.

"Where da others?" The driver asked as the four reached the van. The Joker simply replied by shooting the driver. No henchmen of his was going to use that word "da" in front of him. Its simply too informal, for his eardrums.

"Clean that mess up." He said to the masked man who wasn't with Nichole.

The person holding Nichole's wrist let go of it and stopped pressing the gun to her head. She stumbled forward a bit. She rubbed at her wrist, which was in a lot of pain from all the hard twisting it had just endured. She stared at it and saw faintly a purple color start to appear on it.

_Fucking A!_ She thought to herself, rubbing at it in some attempt to ease the pain.

"Hey boss. What do you want me to do with her?" One of the men asked the Joker.

The Joker just let out a irritated sigh. He then looked at the two, debating his options.

He eyed her up and down slowly, in thought as he took in the details of her he could see in the dim outside lighting.

She was a few inches above five feet. Very skinny and frail looking. She looked to him, like he could grab her arm and snap it broken.

She had blond hair, that stopped just around her chest area. It was wavy, and her bangs were parted to the side and covered half her forehead. He took in her attire and that was what really stuck out to him. She was dressed differently than all the other females at the party. She looked very informal and her shirt was wrinkled and shoes were worn. She looked like someone average, not a person he would expect to see at a Bruce Wayne party.

He was interested though, as to why a simple average person would be at an expensive Bruce Wayne party. It was her attire that caught his eye. His curious eye.

He pegged her to be a waitor or someone with no taste in style.

Her two green eyes looked terrified as he gazed deeply into them. Her lips were parted slightly. He guessed she was too "checking" him out and, if she was sane, she was scared.

And he could see it even in the small amount of light given off by the flickering street light, she was absolutely terrified. He was basking in her fear and he suddenly felt a powerful feeling surge through him. He liked being the cause of a person's fear.

She seemed so innocent. An average Gotham person, out of place in a formal rich setting. He saw an error in that. He began to think how funny it was that if she did not want to come to the party in the first place, how much she would hate it now that he decided to use her as his escape plan.

Ideas poured into his head, some were what he could do with this new meat to help him corrupt the city further, and others thoughts of his were involving him, her, and a couple of nights of fun and knives! He could just get a chill up his spine at the thought of a knife running through her skin. It made him suddenly relaxed. But enough of those thoughts...He had no interest in that at the moment. He had to think of more uses for her than just that. If he wanted that he could easily just pick up a hooker, screw her and then not pay her, because he would have killed her by then. No...she had to have another use besides that. Maybe if he stared at her just a bit longer his brain waves might flow easier.

Gotham City must go down. It was the tip of the ice burge, that would start a chain reaction and bring the world to the realization of how horrible it is and how cruel the people in it are.

Would it be possible to create pure chaos with one single person?

To cause Gotham to fall apart at the seams and the citizens loose faith in its government?

He wondered suddenly if he could make a person so lost and mental that they willingly would follow him and believe in his ideas and help him. Not like his henchmen, who do what they do for pay or drugs, but literally be mindfucked so badly that the person was almost as messed up as him.

He thought he could do it.

He always liked a challenge.

And this person in front of him looked like something he could easily break. She looked like a squealer.

No he didn't know what to do at the moment with her. All the choices.

Why waste blood on something that did not have a greater cause to it? Here he was presented with a tool and he was going to be the artist and use that tool for a master piece.

Maybe he could strap a bomb to her eventually and then-...

Nichole looked up into the eyes of the Joker and stopped rubbing her wrist. Her body just froze.

When she got her first good look at the Joker, she opened her mouth not in amazement, but in fear and disgust.

She had seen him on the television, but in person he was truly terrifying. On a television things don't seem as scary since there is a glass screen separating a person from the thing. But here, standing maybe a few feet away from each other, there was no glass screen to separate Nichole from this monstrous man.

The way he stood way very odd. He had a slight hunch to him. His purple coat and gloves fit perfectly against his body. She guessed it was custom made. She could see his green vest and tie. For a bad guy he was dressed exceptionally well, minus the slight coverage of dirt on him. Maybe without the makeup and scars he could pull off a business man, with a _weird_ taste for the color purple.

His green tinted hair was all messy and some of it stuck to his face, but he didn't seem to care one bit. His face was covered in white makeup, and black around his eyes. His lips and cheeks held red lipstick.

And on his cheeks were two jagged scars.

She focused on them. She could feel bile starting to rise in her throat, but she swallowed quickly to stop it. His scars were so ugly and disgusting and horrid. She didn't know whether to feel sorry for him or to spit at him. But the way he put his lipstick on them, must mean he likes his scars. He wants people like Nichole to notice them.

Knowing the way his mind works...She bet he did them to himself.

She looked back up into his eyes which were focused on her. They were black and seemed to be even darker than the black makeup around his eyes. The look he gave her, felt like he was shooting daggers into her spine, because this whole time she didn't move an inch. It was like her brain shut off and her body went numb.

She wanted to scream in fear but her voice simply ran off. Fear took over her body.

She never in her life had felt so much terror in one instance. The Joker sucked up all emotions, but pure terror. Her lungs felt heavy in her chest and each breath was painful and staggered. Her stomach dropped and was in physical pain from the fear she felt. Goosebumps formed all over her pale skin and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up and chilled her body with horror. She had the urge to cry, but the fear prevented her from any tears forming. It felt painful that no tears were coming out as she internally was crying. Her throat was tense and her jaw set in place to prevent her from shivering in terror. Her body did not move an inch and her hand remained unmoving on her bruised wrist the entire time.

The sound of the man behind her checking his gun to make sure the bullets were in it was the next sound that took her eyes from the Joker for a brief second. She glanced to her side and saw him start to raise the gun to her. Before he could repress the gun into the side of her head, a shot was heard.

Nichole squealed shutting her eyes tightly, thinking the Joker decided to shoot her instead. She heard a loud thud, and she opened her eyes again to see the man on the ground with a pool of blood starting to seep out from underneath him. She turned back to the Joker and saw him lowering his gun, and then tossing it back into the car.

The only surviving goon tilted his head, "What the fuck? I thought you said kill the person after we done usin' them?"

The Joker licked his lips once more moving closer to Nichole. He began circling her, eyeing the rest of her features. It was at that moment Nichole realized he was very tall, and towered over her, and he was also pretty skinny. As if he hadn't had a decent meal since last year, but she guessed underneath those layers of clothes, were muscles. His arms under the cloth hinted he had them.

She crossed her arms across her chest and rubbed at her upper arms feeling very light headed as he walked around her. She did not break eye contact with him once.

"A-ta-ta I did say that. But you see-" The Joker went over and grabbed the man's head and turned it so he would be facing the woman.

"She does have some more _uses._" He made a click noise in his mouth, letting go his the man's head. Nichole gulped as the Joker reached over and grabbed one of her upper arms and shoved her in the van's back seat, the other man climbed into the blood stained front seat, pushing the dead body on to the van's floor.

"Drive_-vah_" The Joker said as he hopped into the seat next to Nichole.

* * *

_To Kill a Mocking Bird_, is one the most famous books out there. Personally did not like it when my junior year was forced to read it.

_Lifetime movies_, are on a television network called Lifetime. It consists of horrible overdramatic dramas, mainly revolving around woman. I find the channel laughable.

***Fan Art for this story is located in my userprofile. Links are provided there. Many fanarts to see and I urge you to look at the amazing time and effort people have put into them and comment on their hard work.**


	2. The First Conversation

**Chapter 2**

She didn't know what to think at all.

Her mind wasn't even allowing her to think logically.

Fear overpowered logic.

The van started to speed off into the city. All the windows were tinted to prevent interest created by those inside the van. There were a few men in clowns masks sitting in various seats of the van, that Nichole did not notice until she entered the van. They had been in there the entire time.

And then there was Nichole sitting terrified next to The Joker. She was pushed as close as she could against the side of the door she was against. The Joker took the middle seat, his sides just barely brushing against her when he would shift in his seat. She looked at him in the corner of her eye and saw he was staring at her. Not her body and features, just her face; mainly her eyes. She then stared down at her fingers and picked at dead skin around her fingernails, a habit she often did when she was nervous. She still could not breath without it hurting, and felt as if this continued she would pass out from the irregular breathing pattern.

_Oh god oh god oh god. This can't be really happening. _Nichole thought to herself as she took in a deep breath of air in an attempt to get a good intake of air.

He was indeed studyingher face this whole time. He wanted to see how she would react to having just been shoved into the van. He wanted to know what she was thinking. Her eyes showed everything her face was desperately trying to hide.

On the inside she was crying hysterically.

She finally broke the silence and turned her head toward the Joker, but didn't look him directly in the eye fearing she would forget what she was going to say if she did. She decided to keep her eyes on the floor.

"Please...I can give you all the money you want. I can give you any money I have. Please...just let me go and I swear to you. I'll give you anything I own." She tried not to sound like she was begging, and more like she was trying to get a business deal through. She did a pretty good job of keeping her voice steady for the state of mind she was in, but it was still a bit squeaky and the obvious fear inside of her was bubbling over into her voice.

The Joker put a single gloved finger over her closed mouth, which caused her to flinch.

His hand was like something burning her, or a bug on her.

She wanted it off.

"A ta-ta-ta talking can distract...the driver." He took his finger off her lip and gestured to the driver.

Nichole bit her lip. It was quite clear now as she looked up against her gut and looked into his eyes, that he didn't want money. He didn't want to hear her whine and complain for him to let her go at the moment. Even though his words were mere teasing, his two dark eyes held a fire in them. A fire that look like it was about to spread and burn Nichole where she sat. She felt a small tingling feeling from where his finger was on her mouth. Even though it was just the fabric of his glove that touched her, she still felt disgusted that _he _actually touched her. When he was holding her wrist painfully, it did not register to her it was him touching her since she did not see him face to face. But still her wrist started to tingle just as her mouth was.

At that moment she gave up on bartering and begging to be let free. It would be a waste of energy for her and would irritate him, maybe to the point of killing her. She knew him to have very little patience from what see has seen in the news and what she just saw at the party. She let out a small sigh and thankfully he hadn't noticed. She was now trapped.

_There had to be something...anything, that he might want. Something I could give him that would make him have a change of heart and let me go._ She thought, trying to find a way to get him to let her go.

_But this is the Joker._ She thought to herself._ Does he even have a heart?_

From that moment on she went into survival mode. Every choice she made she had to think about. Nothing could slip out, nothing could slip up.

The rest of the drive they all sat there quietly. Nichole wanted to barter more, but she wasn't that dumb to give into what her heart wanted to do. She only listened to her mind, which was telling her to remain calm and show no fear. Fear is a weakness and if she showed him she was weak then it would be easy for him to walk all over her.

She tried to stop her hands from shaking but they did not stop. _Oh fuck, I'm screw! _

She knew no matter what she did she could not stop her fear. The shaking and the watery look in her eyes would never go away tonight. She knew he was going to have a field day seeing her fear. She remembered back to that video she saw on the news the other day with him and a person dressed as Batman. The Joker in that video seemed to grow more excited as more fear played onto the hostage's face. The Joker liked to feel powerful.

The van stopped and pulled up to a two story building. All the buildings in the surrounding area, and the one they pulled up to, were old and beat up. Shutters broken, windows broken, porches broken. Basically it be easier for one to point out what _wasn't _broken. To her it looked like a death hole. To him, it was home. A home at least until he moved to the next one. He often changed homes to avoid the chance he was spotted in one place for a long time. He did not want a police raiding his place ever. That would just mess everything up.

He had to be stealthy.

She eyed the place up and down once more, seeing a few lights were on in the house. She could even see into one of the rooms, since the broken shutters provided enough space for her to see men in what looked like a kitchen.

The driver got out first and opened the door for the Joker to get out like a dog. It was then she realized how much control the Joker had over his men, from what she had seen at least. She shuttered internally at the thought of how corrupt his goon's minds must be or how desprete for money they were. Some she knew had to be brain washed into believing the Joker's ideas.

The Joker climbed out slowly, and after dusting his shoulders off, he licked his lips and said, "Bring our little...guest to a place more suiting."

Nichole didn't understand what he meant in that, but the Joker's henchman clearly understood and pointed the gun at Nichole.

"Get out and follow me." He said to her firmly.

The man looked to be just as old as Nichole, and even more skinny then her. He had the smell of smoke though.

She stumbled out of the van, not even having to be asked twice to do as he asked. When there was a gun involved with anything she would listen. Just as she regained her balanced, she looked up to see that the Joker went inside already. The man left with her shoved her shoulder forward.

"Move it!" He yelled in a shaky voice. She saw his eyes more closely at this point and could see he was on some sort of drug. She walked forward slowly listening to the sound of her shoes against the cold cement as they entered the building.

From what she could see as she entered, the old place had been renovated to a living quarters. There was a living room, which held a beat up couch, an old television, and various beer cans and food left by the Joker's men. She could also see there was a kitchen, with a stove that looked like someone _tried _to cook with, but burned half of it off, a mini fridge, and a rather large table with twelve chairs placed randomly around it. On the table it looked like someone had stopped in the middle of a card game.

Each room was lit up with overhead lights, that would sway back and forth randomly when the wind from the broken windows would come into the house.

The entire place smelled of smoke and dirt and the foul smell caused her to scrunch her nose and begin to breath through her mouth. It was dimly lit everywhere and she barely could see if she was stepping on anything as she walked.

The man gave her another shove, which caught her off guard and she fell forward, scrapping her knees on the cement floor. She let out a small groan, as she stood back up with one hand on her knee wiping away the blood. The look on his face, showed he had not meant to do that. He looked as frightened and jumpy as her.

_He fears the Joker too..._ Nichole thought absently._ Maybe I can try to convince him to let me go...No. If he fears the Joker he will do what the Joker tells him to do. You already established this Nichole! You already saw how much control he has over his men!_

She realized with a groan that her mind was as jumpy as ever and again starting to forget a few details here and there. The one thing she was trying to avoid was thinking about what was going to happen to her.

He lead her down a hallway to the basement of the house. It was rather dark and smelled of rot and mold. The ceiling held many spiderwebs and rusted pipes that would leak about once every ten seconds.

"Sit there" He said to her pointing at a chair, he had dragged out from a corner and placed in the center of the room. She obeyed quickly, sitting in the old rotting chair; praying it would not break from her weight as it did look like a chair hardly anyone had ever sat on.

"Stay here." He told her. The man then headed back up the stairs leaving her alone.

She glanced down at her knees which stung quite badly, but she knew needed to forget about her knees and the pain.

She was alone for once.

She needed to take this opportunity to escape.

Slowly Nichole got up and scanned the basement looking for a cellar door of some sort. Her heart lept as she finally found one and rushed over to it. A few locked chains hung from the door keeping it shut. She began to pull and twist at them, trying to get them to break. They looked rather old and rusty.

_It may be possible. Pull harder!_ She tried to motivate herself. But unfortunately for her, she wasn't a very strong one. A series of grunts left her mouth as her hands began to bleed from the metal being pressed so tightly into her, as it was rusty and prickly. She desperately tried to make them break, but they just would not budge.

She started to sob in frustration as she realized it was not going to work, but never the less she pulled more until a voice behind her made her heart sink deep into her stomach and a loud gasp escape her throat.

"What's this? Trying to escape already are we? Such a shame. I think its too late in the day for these kind of games."

She turned around putting a hand over her heart trying to catch her breath.

The Joker was there, sitting on a beat up arm chair in the corner. He had flicked on a lamp that was by him. He was sitting there the whole time she had been down there. That was why he went in first; he wanted to see what she would do if she was alone, to see what type of hostage she was.

And she had made it quite clear in her little act of trying to escape.

She was a fighter. She wasn't going to let any opportunity to escape pass her by.

She was caught red handed by him, and her nerves picked up quickly as she looked at his make up smeared face.

She slowly made her way back to the chair she had been instructed to sit at and plopped down into it, not taking her eye off the Joker. She was surprised his face showed he was amused and not angry.

_He's amused because he fucking knows that I will always try to escape!_ She yelled at herself in her mind. The fear on her face showed. She reached a shade that was worse than pale.

He got up and walked over by her licking his lips. "Well? I asked a question my dear."

She found her voice, and tried to lie. "I-...No of course not. I was just...just.."

But he finished her sentence for her, "Just checking out my fine lock work _hmmmm?_"

She nodded, not really knowing what to say. He simply let out a muffled laugh.

"Before I say anything else, I really must tell you I was quite pleased at that party when I grabbed you, that no one really made a huge fuss over you. I half expected five or ten of your friends to come over and start 'talking' with me, to try and...convince me to _uh_ let you go." He smirked. "Why is that I wonder?" He lowered his head narrowing his eyes and tilting his head slightly at her.

Nichole stared at his feet; making eye contact would make her lose her train of thought. The Joker began to get irritated and reached in his pocket, getting out a finely crafted knife. He admired it tilting it back and forth in the dim light. This caught Nichole's attention and she looked up at him.

"Yanno knives, are simply wonderful. Each of them have their own stories...just...waiting to be told. All the things they have done in their life." He licked his lips once more. "All the different textures they have cut through. All the pages of their story just waiting," His eyelids came closer together now as he spoke, "to be _turned-dah_. I would _hate _to see you be the latest chapter in that book this early...Later i am sure you will be your own chapter in this knife's story, but-..."

He brought the knife by her throat. She flinched in her seat, but did her best to keep a straight face. Her eyes widened a bit as his face was eye level with hers. She stared into his eyes, seeing her reflection in them. His eyes were so dark and dangerous it made her form more goosebumps on her skin. A small sweat droplet fell from her forehead. She glanced down at the knife without moving her head. It was the first time she had a knife to her throat and she knew it would not be the last.

"Now forgive me if I'm wrong but...i think its common courtesy to answer a question that is asked of a person. Is it not?"

Her whole neck felt numb. Her heart felt as if it was beating right out of her chest.

_Okay Nichole just talk to him. Be nice to him and show him you know he's the one in charge and calling the shots. Don't anger him. Stay calm._ She told herself.

She gulped, before spitting out, "Yes...of c-c-course. F-Forgive me..." She blinked. "What was the question again? I-I am s-s-sorry yet again I seem to have a very bad memory. Things just go in one ear and out the other." She let out a nervous laugh.

She ended up saying more then she wanted to. She was going to stop at the _"What was the question again?" _part, but her nerves caused her to talk more. A quality she unfortunately had. With him around she could barely think before she spoke.

Instead of slapping her across the face like he was going to, he let her ignorance slide...this time. He took the knife away from her throat and held it close by his leg."The question was-saaah, why no _dash_-_sah_-_ing_ young man at that party tried to be a knight in shining armor and try to save you from me?"

She stares at her hands again and decided to say something that wasn't entirely true, but certainly was not false."Because, no one at that party knew me. I was just a face in the crowd."

She was going to keep Tom out of the conversation as long as she could, but she knew this attempt would be in vain.

He rolled his eyes. "So am I suppose to believe that **no one **at that party knew you. You just decided you would show up to this party for the heck of it? Do you really expect me to believe that?" The irritation on his face reappeared.

She spoke in fear as he pressed the knife tightly into her neck, before she could stop herself "Well I knew one person! That's it!"

_FUCK! This is not where I want the conversation to go!_ She mentally slapped herself. _Act like Tom isn't important to you! That way the Joker won't have a piqued interest in him as blackmail!_

He licked his lips. "Well why didn't this _friend-dah..._come to the rescue?" He shot her a piercing glare, and hid his smile as he watched her shudder in her seat. He was so amused that he was able to scare her out of her mind with a simple face.

She looked back up into his eyes, which was big mistake. When she did, the words just came out. It may have had something to do with his glare, or the knife he held tightly in his left hand.

"My friend Tom...he...I asked for help from him, but he didn't. I- I- tried to get him to help me, but he got scared. He hid amongst the party goers and that's...it. H-He's all I knew t-t-there. He's j-j-just a friend. I b-b-barely know him. I was invited on a w-wim."

He glanced at his knife again, soaking in each word of her sentence, thinking of the perfect thing to say to it. "Well...Nikki... It's Nikki right?" She gave a small nod, now focusing on his scars, instead of his intense eyes. "Do you want to know why Tom didn't come to the rescue?"

When she did not respond he just continued, nodding his head.

"He was being _smart-tah_...You see, when faced with a dangerous situation, these civilized people, will go back to their old ways of thinking. They will go by the laws of survival of the fittest. They won't...stop and try to rescue a damsel in distress. No. No...That's in fairy tales, that people try to corrupt the young children of this world into believing in. See that's why it comes as a shock to these...children who have grown up thinking friends will have each others back, that when their friends just chicken out and save themselves. When the right situation comes into play...Well...Its a dog eat dog world out there Nichole. So really your friend was just following what his human instinct told him to do. Can you blame him for what his mind is saying? Cause if you are...you are being pretty selfish."

Nichole's mouth slowly opened in shock as he spoke. But felt relief when she realized he believed her when she said Tom wasn't that close to her. Now she had to stick to that story. If he ever saw she was lying...She did not even want to think what he would do.

He giggled. "Oh but you...you" He pointed at her. "You still think he should have tried to help you. Correct?"

"...Yes.." She said very softly. She didn't know if this answer would anger him, but he laughed more.

"Well do you know what I woulda done...if your little friend tried to save you?"

She shook her head.

He took his knife and swat at the open air directly to the left of Nichole. She let out a little scream, thinking he was going to stab her.

The Joker laughed as he said, "Well I would have just...silenced him." He laughed more to the extent of slapping his knee. He kneeled down by the chair she sat frozen in.

"But don't deny Nikki. There is some part of you...you wouldn't admit this out loud but... there is a part of you that would have wanted, your little escort into the party, Tom to try and talk things over, even if it meant the death of him...because he would have stood up for you. He would have proved himself to be loyal. His loyalty would be rewarded with an early death...but that's not the _point-tah_...Just admit it Nikki. Say it..."

She mumbled something he couldn't catch, so he brought his knife up by her neck again, making her shut her eyes tightly. "**Say it!**"

"I WANTED HIM TO SAVE ME!" She screamed, a few tears falling from her eyes out of fear. Her thin layer of bravery was being cut into deeply, by this madman.

The Joker patted her head. "Good girl. See what I mean Nikki? In this world, trust is for fools. Fear is the only real way to solve problems. So in a way I solved a problem for you. Your friend feared me, and showed he wasn't a good friend for you. So I saved you from a bad relationship if you wanted to get closer to him."

He licked his lips, lowering his head hiding his neck as he looked at her from the top of his eyes, making him look more menacing. "You should be thanking me."

At that moment she realized that The Joker wasn't crazy.

He was _insane_.

His ways of thinking were odd and monstrous. She did not feel safe at all around him, and felt there would be no way to reason with him to let her go. His mind didn't work like her's. He was smart; she could not deny it. But the way he used his brain was to play mind tricks on others.

He pressed the knife into her throat deeper, breaking a little bit of skin at the very tip. She let out a muffled grunt as blood began to break through the surface of her skin and travel down to his knife.

"Thank...you.." She said softly and without meaning.

He grinned, taking the knife away. Nichole wiped the bit of blood from her neck.

"You see Nichole how much better we get along when you cooperate?" He walked over and pulled his armchair in front of Nichole's chair. He was a bit tired and wanted to sit. Crashing parties takes a lot of energy out of a man.

"So where were we..." He thought for a moment, rubbing his knife on the armchair's side removing Nichole's small amount of blood from it. "Ah _yes-sah_...I do have a question, and this one crack me up just thinking about it-..." he started to laugh while he asked, "Why...if you heard gunshots and yelling, did you walk out of the bathroom and into the room you heard danger from?" He smiled. He sincerely wanted to know this, as he knew a normal sane person would not enter a room gunshots were heard.

"Well...I didn't hear all the fighting and such in the party room."

He raised an eyebrow, so she quickly added to explain and to keep him from getting angry, "I was listening to my music player, in the bathroom. I didn't hear any of it, so I walked out of there thinking nothing major was going on. I wasn't concerned by the silence I heard because..I thought it was j-j-just someone making a toast or something."

He smacked his lips together. "_Soooo_ was that party a real downer? Was it _soooo_ bad you had to resort to...going into the bathroom and listening to music to experience fun? Because there are so many other ways to have fun than that. I could show you them sometime. Do you know how to use a bomb?" His devilish smiled came back onto his face.

"No...no I w-went in there to escape the party. Its not that it was bad, its just I didn't f-f-fit in." She did not see the point in him asking this at all. She cleared her raw throat and blinked sending a few tears off the rim of her eyelids.

"You didn't fit in? Fit...in?" He laughed. "How can you not fit in with a bunch of high class citizens people, showing off their latest cars, clothes and bragging about money? I could even do it. It's not that hard. You make it sound like a challenge. No Nichole...A challenge is making a bomb in less than five minutes. That is a challenge. Fitting in at a party is not. Your petty problems do not amuse me. Here I was thinking there was going to be some exciting reason for you to not be in the main party room, but only to find out it's because you have self esteem issues? What a disappointment." He faked a frown.

This conversation was starting to sound like as if she was talking to a friend on the phone and not a murderer. The Joker asking her questions about _her _personal life...and it was starting to get annoying. But she knew if she didn't answer, she end up with a cold chunk of metal in her chest.

_He's either asking me all this to get me to feel a bit relaxed and think he's not going to attack me so that when he does it will come unexpectedly or he's doing this so he better understands what kind of hostage I am_...She cringed.

She momentarily forgot what he asked her.

_Breath Nichole just breath and stay strong._ She thought to herself.

"Sorry it's a disappointment, but you actually said the point...I'm not rich, I don't own a car with these gas prices, and any money I own I don't brag about. I use it for food and every so often a new suit for my job as a teacher." Looking into his eyes she always said more then she wanted to. Not a good quality to have at the moment. "I...I- just felt out of place. I'm sorry I am not as good of an actor as you are when it comes to pretending." She tried to make that last sentence sound serious, and not sarcastic.

He wasn't expecting that out of her mouth. Not even owning a car or bragging about her money whatever little amount she had? That was strange.

"So let me get this...straight...you went into a bathroom. Because you're not rich...?" He tilted his head like a dog.

"Well really I was just embarrassed. I felt like they all knew I wasn't like them and judge me..." She blushed, feeling this was highly inappropriateto talk about with the Joker. And now...It sounded as if she was someone in high school that didn't fit in at the lunch table. How little her problems of not fitting in, felt compared to this problem currently she was in.

"Its not a crime to be poor." He said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Well it **is **a crime to kidnap." She said not thinking. That statement just pissed her off coming from him of all people. She didn't want _him_criticing her personal life.

_Fuck...I didn't mean to say that-_

He slapped her across the face hard. His purple leather glove made the blow hurt a lot worse. "Yanno you're really testing my patience. Pretty soon if you keep this up I might not be blamed for a kidnapping but a murder." He winked at her as she brought a hand up to her face, trying to stop the pain of his slap. The faint color of an irritated red began to show where he hit her.

Her mouth was open as her breathing hitched.

_He touched...Me...He fucking hit me!_ She screamed in her mind. Her face was burning and she wanted to remove the skin where he touched her. It was like the devil had touched her.

He looked down at her leg and stared at it intently, trying to think of another set of questions to bring to the table. Not that he cared about her life. He just liked messing with her. She would be his experiment. There had to be some way to get an ordinary citizen of Gotham City to be able to be as corrupt as he is, without him getting killed in the process, because if he could find a way to do this, he could get everyone in the whole city...no no world, to become corrupt and eat each other up. As they would, he would sit back and enjoy the show.

**His** show.

His master piece.

He always liked to make people go insane.

He was certain he could get this idiotic woman in front of him to go crazy. If he placed her in the situation that was on his mind right now she would go mental. He had a plan to use her in his never ending quest to bring Gotham to its knees.

"You mentioned-..." He said about five minutes into silence. "You are a teacher? Right here in Gotham City?" He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "Teaching the future crime doers and scum of this city?" He laughed.

She nodded, bringing her hand off her face; which was still burning immensely. "High...school."

He looked back up into her eyes. "How old are you?"

"Twenty three." She said softly.

He mouthed the word "23" to her faking amazement. "You have been teaching about-" He counted off his fingers before finishing his sentence, "two years?"

"Well two years in about four weeks, once the end of this school year comes around." It suddenly dawned on the Joker that summer was around the corner. He grinned mentally at this. Children running freely around _his _city. All of them were marked to die in one way or another.

He looked behind Nichole at a small clock set on the wall. He could barely make out the time due to the darkness of the room, but he noticed it was getting rather late. He needed to wrap up this conversation soon. He needed his _beauty _rest for the coming events. After all he was planning on getting arrested tomorrow night and he had so much to do to prepare for it!

He stood up kicking his chair back to the wall. He walked back over to her eyeing her with a deadly grin. "Now Nikki...Nikki Nikki...Who would...show some concern if...you were to suddenly disappear?"

She wiped one of her eyes, holding back her urge to scream at that statement. She didn't like knowing she was going to die soon. If she was going to die, she hoped it would be a quick painless death. When she once thought about how she wanted to die, she always pictured it to happen when she was old and grey in her bed, dying peacefully in her sleep.

She sniffled before responding. He almost laughed at that, finding her pain to be amusing to his sick mind.

"...Um...well..." She manged to get that much out of her, before letting out a few more tears and the beginnings of a long over do sob. He could see she was having trouble so, he decided to be a nice fellow and place the knife to her throat to _help_ her find the words.

"Tom!" she spat out. She always thought straight when a knife was involved. "Tom the guy from the party, he's probably already told the police you have me!"

He smacked his lips together. "Who _else-sah_?"

She tried to think, but her mind was not drawing anymore names for her.

He grew impatience. "Perhaps your mother?" He suggested, holding back the urge to shake her back and forth to get an answer out of her.

She shook her head. "She's dead."

He glared at her. "If you are going to start telling me your family is dead to try and protect them-" He began, but she interrupted him.

"She was in a car accident ten years ago!" Nichole said this very loudly almost yelling in fact, and The Joker almost jumped at it. _Almost. _

"Well you don't...have to yell at me. I'm right here." He could see, the mentioning of her mother upset her...but that would be a story to dive into _another day_. He really just wanted some sleep.

"Your father? Brothers, sisters? Nikki...i really don't know, I just don't want a whole clan of Nikki's friends and family on my doorstep trying to beat me into cottage cheese." He took the knife off her throat, standing up straight, going by a box as he spoke. He searched through it, looking for something he needed.

"...I don't where my father is, and I doubt he would care if something like this happened. My brother is in Iraq fighting so he would not take notice I am not around until he gets back which would be in months, and I don't have any friends in Gotham. The only people who would show concern if I were to not be around tomorrow, would be my students. Since I am a teacher, it would be odd for me to not show up to work. The other teachers might get suspicious as well, since I have never missed a day of work in the past two years." She felt a spur of confidence, so she added, "...and I intend to keep it that way."

She left out the details of her friends outside of Gotham. Most of her college friends were not in Gotham City and had gone their own ways across the country. Some though were still in the town where she went to college. She talked with them on the phone about once or twice a month and saw them once or twice every two months (the ones that lived close). They may express concern, if she were to suddenly disappear...

And she knew...Whatever or where ever the Joker would take her...would make her disappear.

Forever.

As he removed a cloth from the box walking back to Nichole, he got an idea. In that very moment he was able to calculate a whole new plan for tomorrow. He was able to figure out the flaws in the plan and know what to do if things did not go the way he wanted them too. He knelt down by her, looking into her frail eyes.

"Listen to me very carefully. Tomorrow, I am going to let you go." She got a confused look on her face, but took in his every word. "You will do your day as normal. Go to work, and act normal. After work tell your boss you quit. Then go home and wait for me to come and...get you. Should you act different around people and they ask you what is wrong, you tell them you don't feel good. Got it?"

She nodded, imagining how hard tomorrow was going to be for her. Nichole didn't think at that moment nor would she ever think to ask the simple question of _how do you know where I live? _Because in fact he _didn't _know where she lived, but he already had a plan to find out where.

He took the cloth and placed it over her eyes tying it in the back of her head more tightly then needed. "_Just-tah_...go to sleep Nikki. Think about...what you have to do tomorrow." He said quietly in her ear, as he reached over grabbing some rope and tying her to the chair itself. The rope began to burn her as she squirmed in the seat, feeling very uncomfortable since she could not see where the Joker was when he spoke.

"But remember...i will be watching. So don't tell anyone about...this. I don't really like those who can't keep their mouths shut...So don't force me to keep it shut permanently." He warned. "I happen to have my own personal tailor...and he would do as I told him if i told him to sew your mouth shut. Whatever I say goes Nichole. It be best for you to keep that in mind."

Nichole's tears were starting to soak through the cloth he put on her eyes. The Joker reached into his pocket and pulled a small pill from it, he forcefully grabbed her chin making her scream and roughly placed the pill in her mouth.

"Now open and say ahhhhhh" He said taking his knife and stabbing the back of her neck with force to penetrate the skin.

"AHHHHH!" She cried out in pain. In the process the pill flew down her throat, causing her to go into a coughing fit and choke.

"Now you may start to feel a bit...light headed." He patted her head like she was an animal.

"Wha- wha-...what the fuck did you give me!" She screamed out, squirming in her seat, giving her more rope burn in the process.

"Just something to help you sleep my dear. Sweet _d-r-eeeeeeee-a-m-s-sah." _He patted her head once more.

Nichole's neck felt numb now. In fact her whole body felt numb. She felt her throat go dry and all her muscles relax at once. Her whole body felt like it wasn't attached to her and her breathing was a distant sound to her. The only sound she could hear was her heart, beating more slower and slower as the seconds passed. Eventually her eyes shut and fell into a deep sleep.

The Joker grinned at this, seeing his drug worked on her. He reached in his pocket again taking out a small square object. The object was a tracking device, normally used to plant on cars or briefcases.

He leaned Nichole's body forward in her tied-up-to-the-chair state. He pushed her hair forward and exposed the cut on the back of her neck he had created moments ago. He took the small square object and shoved it forcefully into her skin, causing a stream of blood to flow down her backside. A stain of blood appeared on the back of her shirt now. Once it was in fully, he went through another box pulling needle and thread and sewed her cut up. He wiped the blood with his fingers off her.

He stared at her warm red blood on his glove, and licked his lips. He wiped it on his pant leg, returning his gaze to the drugged woman.

He patted her head once more before whispering to her dreamy self. "_And remember...i will be watching..." _


	3. A Day Alone

**Chapter 3**

It took her about five minutes to realize she was laying down and not in a chair. Highs hopes entered her brain and for a brief second she thought maybe all yesterday was a dream.

_Maybe i got drunk and passed out!_ She thought, remembering Tom saying she had been eyeing the wine at the party. _Maybe I started to drink without even knowing!_

She began to shiver as a breeze and sat up opening her eyes.

She was outside.

She turned to the left to see the old beat up building of the Joker's and her heart fell. It had not been a dream at all. She was on the ground in the dirt, a cool breeze blowing and it was still dark out. Someone had carried her outside and just flat out left her there. She felt a new scrap on her leg and side and she realized whoever dumpped her outside, most likely the Joker, honesty did just that. They dropped her onto the dirt and caused cuts to form on her sides. They stung, feeling dirt and grim in them and the added pressure of her body weight being on them while she was knocked out added to this discomfort.

"No...." She said under her breath. "Oh god no....."

When she stood up all the pain came to her. The back of her neck felt numb, so she felt where she was cut, gasping to feel someone had sewn it up.

"What the hell...." She felt the sewing job, and the lump on the back of her neck. It felt very odd. Something wasn't right. Before she could question that more her common sense hit and she started to quickly run down the street in a random direction. She had no clue where she was, but as long as she was away from the Joker, it was fine by her.

She then remembered what he said. _"I'll be watching."_

Her legs felt like sponges as she raced further down the roads she encountered. She felt tired and had the urge to stop and sit on the curb, but she did not. Her hands ran through her hair as it fell and flopped about in her face, preventing her from seeing clearly. The cuts on her legs started to bleed as she ran and it felt as if the ground was pulling her down towards it in an iron invisible grip of death. She had to fight the grip and keep running.

She tripped on a loose piece of sidewalk, and reopened the cuts on her knees now. She yelped in pain, as she bit down on her cheeks to prevent a large scream escaping her mouth. Glancing at her bloody knee, Nichole felt the urge to scream out for help or run to the police.

_I can't....He will know._ Nichole thought, as she frowned.

She decided to remove her shoes and carry them, instead of running in them. Though they were flats, they were causing her blisters as she ran. With them in her hand she raced down another street. The darkness surrounding her and bits of gravel sticking to the bottom of her feet. Nichole glanced behind her shoulder every few seconds as she ran a couple of blocks, fearing he would be behind her in a van watching her like a hawk. Nichole could not stop the tears that flowed down her face. The rope burn on both her arms stung as she itched at them.

There was a point where she could not go on. Her nerves forced her to sit on the side of the road and rest. Which at that point she threw up on the sidewalk. If anyone were to walk by her they would assume she was a drunk as she did look like one at the moment. She was sweating enormously and the smell hit her as she stood back up, along with the bits of her stomach contents that landed on her.

She felt disgusting, but right now didn't care.

After a half hour of walking she reached her house. It was a small little thing, but it was better than an apartment. She didn't want to share a bathroom with other people in a household, so she bought a cheap house (with Tom's help) and did what she could with it. She rushed through her front door, quickly shutting it behind her and locking it.

Being in her home, she felt strangly a bit safer...but still the nerves did not cease.

Her Germen Shepard Atticus started barking immediately; happy to see his master return home. He wasn't used to her being away for such a long time. She didn't stop to pet him though to his anger. She started dashing around her house locking every window and pulling down every shade. She went into her kitchen and grabbed a steak knife placing it on the counter. She stared at it; with the knife in her reach she felt much calmer.

Her dog started to bite at her ankles wanting attention. She reached down and hugged her dog, and began crying. "Atticus...what am I going to do?" She cried. Atticus licked her face, sensing she was upset.

She tightened her hug with him yelling into his fur, as if this embrace would drain her fears and take the problem away.

"H-h-how did I end up like this? _HOW!?" _She sniffled. "Its all because I was so stupid...so stupid and I just H-HAD to leave the fucking bathroom at that moment. W-W-Why couldn't I just have stuck around a little bit longer?! Oh my god!" She pounded the floor with her foot. "He's going to kill me Atticus! He's going to k-kill me!"

Her dog whimpered at her sudden shouting.

"Why me...Why me..." She rocked back and forth, stroking her dog's fur.

* * *

The Joker giggled. He had a little ear piece in one of his ears, listening to every word Nichole screamed. He adjusted its volume down a bit as her screaming was starting to irritate his ear drums.

He turned to one of his men in a clown mask. "I have a job for you..." The Joker threw the man a small remote device with a tiny television type screen on it. "I want..you..." He pointed at the man. "You...to watch that screen. There is a little blinking red dot on it. That represents our little screamer. Make sure that little dot, never enters a police station, or leaves Gotham City...are we clear?"

"Yeah yeah sure boss whatever." The man said, clearly not listening. He was reading the newspaper and whatever the Joker was saying to him wasn't really important to him at the moment.

The Joker glared very irritated. "I don't think you heard me right."

He grabbed his knife diving it into the man's hand, but not enough to empale it completely. "ARE WE CLEAR?"

The man screamed in pain, the bones in his hands being crushed and scattering into the rest of his skin. "AHHH! YEESSSSS BOSSSSS. OWWW!"

The Joker smiled removing his knife. "Oh and one more thing...I may call you and ask where the dot is located at any given time...so uh...leave your phone on." The Joker laughed hysterically as he watched the man hold his hand to stop the blood from flowing out.

He licked his lips. "Now time to go shopping!"

Another man in the room watching television tilted his head. "Yo boss what you buying?"

The Joker grinned. "I need some toys for tonight..." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

"Oh yeah mean fer tha' girl?" The man laughed cruelly.

The Joker sighed. "No, no....I mean for tonight. The night we have planned for a while back. The night we have talked about over and over and over again." The Joker made hand gestures as he spoke. The man still remained confused.

The Joker explained. "You see...this morning...i heard from a source the Batman has decided to turn himself in. But... I think someone will take the fall for him. And my little noggin-" He taps his head. "Tells me...that uh Harvey Dent...will be that man, as he does strike me for the type that would take the fall for someone. _Sooo _we try and attack the cars transporting.....our little "bat" and the REAL Batman is bound to show up... Now do you mind? I have to go buy my little toys now."

He was very mad at his henchmen. Not just the two who needed everything explained to them, but all of them and all of his men that have yet to be under his control. They didn't possess a creative and thoughtful mind. They were all druggies, looking for money, or people who were bums just joining him because they wanted immunity from his attacks, but they were not immune for sooner or later he would kill them. They were nothing to him but mere guns. Once he got bored with them, he would throw them away.

But knifes..._knifes. _Oh knifes he would never throw away. But none of his henchmen were even close to the status of his knifes. He trusted his knifes more then his men. They were just so beautiful and never changed or had attitude, or asked for a raise. He has never met anyone who was above his knifes...ever. Everyone was so predictable in life, but knifes, you never know what the cut they give will look like or how deep it will go.

He smiled walking out of his house, continuing to listen to Nichole sob in his ear piece. At least he was able to listen to her losing her mind. That was cheering him up.

* * *

Nichole could not cry anymore, for it was hurting to much and getting nothing accomplished. Her throat was dry and her eyes red and puffy. She glanced at the time on her stove. It was 4:07 am. She needed to be at work by 7:00. First she needed to call Tom to tell him she was "alright". She picked up the phone and dialed his number. She bet he was asleep and crossed her fingers that he wouldn't pick up. She didn't want to lie to him as he talked to her. Leaving a message would be easier.

Unfortunately he picked up, causing her to tense where she sat.

"_Hello?"_ Said a tired voice

"Tom." Was all Nichole could say.

"_Yeah?"_ He was too sleepy to figure out it was Nichole. It took him a second before-

"_NICHOLE! OH MY GOSH! ARE YOU OK!? WHERE ARE YOU!"_

"Tom tom tom. Please calm down. I-I'm fine."

"_Nichole...what happened?"_ He sounded alert and almost hysterical.

She had to think of a story to use and quick. She hoped the practice she got from lying to the Joker would work yet again with Tom.

"N-Nothing...he just brought me into his van and dumped me off somewhere. I hit my head in the process and...I...got knocked out. And then I woke up and walked home. That's it. And my head is fine before you say anything. Just a cut on my neck, but I...went to the hospital and they stitched it up. Seriously, I am fine."

"_Nichole...do you want me to come over. Talk to you? Help you? I'm coming over!"_ He spoke in a rushed manner. She heard sounds of him getting up and about in the backround.

"NO!" She said quickly without thinking. "I mean...Tom.. I really just want to forget about all this and pretend it never happened. Please."

"_OK Nichole. I was so worried about you though. I was scared something happened to you. Nichole...i-"_

"Its OK Tom you don't need to-" But he cut her off, with something that made her mouth hang open.

"_Nichole I love you."_

"What?..." Her breath caught. This was not expected at all from him.

"_Nichole, I love you. So much."_

"No you don't Tom..." She began to blush, spitting out whatever nonsense words could reach her mouth.

_Oh god why now of all times?_ Nichole groaned in her head. _Why couldn't you say this another day! Another day where I can tell you how I feel in return!_

"_Nichole...I really love you. Nichole when you were taken, it crushed me so much. I am truly sorry i didn't come to help you, but the Joker....just his appearance made me freeze in my spot. Once you were gone, i couldn't take it. It was one of those "You don't know what you got till it's gone" moments. I just...I don't wanna loose you again."_

"I- um..." Was all Nichole could say. She licked her lips to relieve the dryness of them.

"_Its OK ...you don't need to say anything...listen can I meet up with you tomorrow?"_

"Sure..." She knew that wasn't going to happen. She didn't even know if she was going to be alive tomorrow.

"_Listen I'll call the police for you Nichole. I'll tell them your safe."_

"Thanks Tom... I um...Tom whatever happens...Please don't go after the Joker. Don't even be anywhere near him. Ever."

"_What...what do you mean?"_

"Just promise me...you will NEVER be near him ever. Never."

"_I promise...i won't..."_

"Thank you...I'm gonna go to bed. I'm actually quite tired." She wanted the phone conversation to just end. Tom poured his heart to her, and she could not tell him how she really felt about him, for it would put his life in danger. She _really _did like him.

"_Ok then...I'm really glad your OK. I was almost crying when he had you in that elevator with him."_

"Yes well...no more talking about that. See you tomorrow then?" She lied, silent tears streaming down her face.

"_Bye Nichole..."_

"Goodbye...Tom" She had her mindset on that might be the last time she ever talked to him.

She put down the phone, letting her last few tears flow down her face.

Her mind was racing by what he said.

_He loves me?....._ She thought. All her life she wanted to know if he loved her. She wanted him to love her and for them to be more than friends. And now he says he loves her.

_No...He didn't mean it like that._ She told herself. _He meant it in a brother to sister way. Don't get your hopes up. He was saying that because he missed you like a friend...._

She then did something she had been wanting to do for the past day. She took a nice warm shower, throwing away the dirty and blood soaked clothes she wore. The rope burns stung from the steam and water, but she delt with it, as the water felt amazing on the rest of her body.

She felt disgusting. Not because of the blood and dirt, but because the Joker touched her. Simple touching of his hand to her arm or neck, but still it freaked her out.

The shower rid her of the grim, but not the feeling of the knife against her throat.

The feeling of fear caked in her stomach.

The shower took her mind off of the fear a little, but her stomach felt so empty and as if a hole had pierced through her heart. She did not know how to rid the fear away, or even at that if the fear would ever go away. Her life did not flash before her eyes as she stared death in the face. All she saw in death's face was white, red, and black makeup smeared on it and two scars menacing and terrifying.

His image remained in her head. His laughter echoed in her mind. She knew it would never leave, even if she were to never see the Joker again.

_It may just be a bluff Nichole._ She told herself. _He may be lying to you. He might not even have any more interest in you._

When she got out, she realized she had been in there for an hour and half. It had been just so relaxing, but it was a very bad thing on her mind since it allowed her to think of the monsterous Joker.

She went to her room, grabbing a pair of jeans and throwing them on. She took a white tank top and put it on as well, then grabbed a green sweater, to place over it. It had darker green strips on it that complemented it. It was unique and only went down to right above her belly button. She would have picked something a bit more formal, but it was Friday and teachers were allowed to dress down.

_I have to look and act normal...No odd behavor._ She told herself in the mirror, in her head.

She headed out the door and walked to the school. It wasn't a far walk, just a few blocks, but her clothes were rubbing against the rope burn causing a lot of irritation. She still glanced over her shoulder often, and her breath stayed at a higher than average rate. The world around her seemed to move in slow motion and it was almost as if she was not really there. Her head felt as high and light as air, and her eyes seemed to not focus on a single thing.

_He...HE HAD to be bluffing._ She thought. _How on earth could he know where I am? I don't see anyone following me...but-...._

As she reached the school, she went to the main office and signed in. Nichole tried her best to keep a straight face and look as if nothing was wrong with her. The other teachers were too wrapped up in their own silly lives to notice. She then headed to her classroom and sunk into her desk's chair. She folded her head in her hands resting her head on her desk. She laid like that deep in thought until she felt someone poke her shoulder. She sprung up almost screaming, until she saw it was one of her students, giving her a funny look.

"Um miss? Are you gonna take attendance or just lay there all morning?" asked her student, eyeing Nichole's face.

Nichole gulped realizing she had not put make up on. This of course would never normally bother her, but the fact she had a small bruise on the side of her face from when the Joker slapped her would raise quite a few questions. Questions she would have to lie about.

Her face flushed red, seeing her homeroom class were all in their seats staring at her with perplexed looks. At Gotham City High School, a teacher is given a homeroom to look over all four years. The homeroom meets at the beginning of the day for ten minutes, and then again at the end of the day for fifteen. Normally it is used so the teacher gives them lectures on not to do drugs or other illegal things, but Nichole let her homeroom use it as a study hall.

"Nichole are you ok?" One of her students asked.

Nichole let her students call her by her first name. Truth be told Nichole and her homeroom class were very close. The first year she taught them at first everyone hated each other, but Nichole was so nice to them, they all fell in love with her. This year everyone came to Nichole with their problems. If they wanted to skip a class, they came into Nichole's room and hang out, if someone forgot breakfast, it was Nichole that gave them food. Hell even Nichole had come to her class with her problems. They told each other everything, but the events that were happening to her right now, was something she wanted to keep to herself.

"Oh right sorry Kerri." She took attendance quickly, just marking everyone "In School" even though she knew a few were not there. Her mind was not functioning correctly enough to write what she needed to on the slip of paper. The rest of homeroom, her class told her about their weekends, from one of the girl's boyfriends cheating on her, to one person who went on a surfing trip. Nichole faked happiness, but they seemed to notice it was a mask.

"Nichole how did you get that bruise?" One student dared to ask.

"Oh...I." Nichole was dreading this question, but thought of a lie quickly. "I ran into a door at a party i went to last night. Let that be a lesson to you all not to drink." She smiled, getting a laugh from everyone.

The rest of the day was Nichole giving all her classes a free class and let them do whatever they wanted during the 45 minutes of class they had with her. She spent all the time on her school computer looking up self defense attacks.

_Yeah right! S_he thought _Like I could overpower The Joker....This is useless. _She sighed.

The end of the day grew near and her homeroom class came filing back into her room. Nichole had been growing tenser and tenser as the day went on knowing she had the very good chance of being face to face with the Joker yet again. The growing fear gnawing at her insides, caused her to throw up half way through the day, but she made it to the bathroom in time. She was thankful it was located near her room. She ended up throwing up a few other times after that, even though there was nothing in her stomach to vomit.

She could not eat lunch due to her fear.

Her fear was what fueled her.

Instead of her students going to sit in their seats, they all crowded around Nichole's desk.

She tilted her head at them. "What...is everything alright guys?" She asked them.

One girl, stepped up to talking. "Nichole...all of us talked and...we know somethings wrong. Your not your cheery self today...what happened? You know, you can trust us not to tell anyone. We care about you and we wanna help. We hate seeing you like this! Its something we never see!"

A mumble of "Yeah!" and "We just wanna help!" was followed by that statement, by her class.

Nichole bite her lip.

_I know I can trust them, but what if the Joker finds out in some way that I told them? What if he does?_ Those thoughts raced through her mind. He **had **told her to keep her mouth shut, but how could he even be listening to what she was saying. Surely if The Joker was within a mile of the school an announcement would have been said over the intercom saying _"Code White"_which meant an intruder was in the school attacking.

She got up and shut her door (throwing the little patch over the small window to the door so no one could see in) and then sat back down at her desk.

"OK...you can't tell a soul got it? This is a life or death situation and...very serious. I should not even being telling you this, but......"

All her students nodded, and widened their eyes at the word "death"

She took a deep breath in, before spilling her guts. "Last night at the party for Bruce Wayne...You all must have heard what happened right?"

"The Joker crashed it...didn't he? I heard about it on the news!" One boy said.

"Yes...That is correct. And I was at that party. I ended up walking out of the bathroom at the wrong time and the Joker suddenly grabbed me and used me as his hostage to escape. I thought he was going to k-k-kill me when h-he r-reached the van." Her voice shook as the same feeling she felt when she was staring at the barrel of the gun in her face reappeared. "He brought me back to his place, because he formed some sicko plan that since I was already his hostage, he could use me for something else. He kept saying he wanted to strap me to a bomb! He told me....last night while he tied me to a chair that I was to do my day as normal and then quit my job and wait for him at my house so he could use me."

The children's expression ranged from blank to pure horror.

"And now I don't know what to do...he's after me, he told me to make it look like im leaving Gotham forever. He's going to kill me! I know he is. I just don't know what to do. Go to the police? But knowing him he probably has people in their working for him. I could be thinking someone is escorting me to a room for food or something, only to be escorted to him. I don't even know why he is keeping me!"

School had been over fifteen minutes ago. All her students stayed with their teacher. Hugging her, crying with her; All of them. They cared about Nichole too much to leave her in her state of panic.

And then the suggestions all came pouring in from them. Some good, the others not so much.

"Nichole...you can stay at my house. I'll protect you!"  
"Go with Tom. Tell him everything and stay with him!"  
"You really should go to the police. My dad works their ask for him and him only."  
"Grab a knife and stab him when he comes to your house."  
"Leave Gotham. I know it be hard, but really just go on a trip until the Joke is caught."

Nichole wiped her eyes and hugged them all tightly. "You guys...your so nice to me. I'm sorry I dragged you into this problem. I feel better actually talking about it to someone though...."

_**Tap tap tap!**_

Someone was knocking at her door.

"Oh..." Nichole said. "It must be the principle. He must be wondering why all of you are here. And I did request a meeting with him. I think I will do what you said Kerri...i will go on a trip until The Joker is caught....Just do not say a thing to anyone on this. I trust you guys not to. If you did....it would cause you to be involved and....it would not be good. You all are such great people. I know one day in the future Gotham will be prooud of you." She smiled.

_**Tap tap BANG!**_

The person knocking on the door was getting angry no one was answering the door.

_Yup, definitely Gotham's principle as he was a very impatient man. _Nichole thought, slightly muffed by the loud noises.

"Hang on! Hang on!" Nichole yelled opening the door. "Sorry about th-" She wanted to scream, but the gun pointed at her forehead kept it in her throat. Her eyes were not believing what she was seeing. Every thought running through her head fell to the floor, as well as her stomach.

The Joker was standing there with his gun grinning. "Well well well...looks like you can't hold-dah...your tongue." he laughed as Nichole stepped backwards into the room, nearly tripping over her own foot. She tried to speak but her words would not escape her mouth. He shut the door behind Nichole, eyeing everyone in the room with a twisted smile.

All her students backed up into a corner, pure terror expressions on their faces. Some started screaming and others tried to sneak their cell phones out to call for help.

He grinned. "Nikki...Nikki...Nikki. Yanno I _t-ol-d _you I'd be watching." He shrugged. "Oh well. The problem can be fixed."

Then he raised his gun in the air and started shooting at her students; All of them. The ones in the front of their cluster were hit and fell to the floor groaning in pain. Others started screaming, scampering to the doors to try and escape, but the Joker's gun fire hit them before they even made it within inches of the doors. Blood was every where and growing by the second. The ones who were still alive, awaiting to be shot tried to duck under their desks, but failed.

One by one they all fell to the ground. Two or three were screaming hit in the leg or shoulder. The Joker went over to them faking caring.

"Awh...did someone get hurt? Here let me _help-pah_...you." He shot them in the head, laughing manically.

Nichole sat against a wall by the door screaming and crying. She was in shock and could not move. Her body started shaking and she choked on her own tears. "Noooo...Noooooo!"

The Joker had just murdered her students, who in her eyes were like her own children. She stopped breathing as his two eyes stared directly into hers and he walked closer to her, placing the gun in his jacket and withdrawing a knife.

He grinned wickedly. "You...are coming with uh me. Right...now."


	4. The Truck Ride From Hell

**Chapter 4**

He reached down and grabbed a fist full of Nichole's hair, and yanked her forward. She yelped in pain, still shaking from the shock of seeing him shoot her friends.

Her mouth would not allow her screams to exit. They were built up deep inside of her waiting to come out later when the shock left.

He began to walk out of the classroom, dragging Nichole, still by her hair, and didn't even allow her time to try and stand up. She cried out in pain trying to grab the root of her hair to stop all the pulling on her head, but it did nothing for her. She began to kick and scream like a wild animal completly loosing it.

"Stop it! Stop! Your hurting me!" Her words came out without her thinking. The pain made her say things. What she really wanted to say to him, were curse words followed by her shooting him in the face, but at this moment that was out of the question.

He looked down at her and winked. "Good."

He walked out the building, Nichole burning her arms against the cement pavement as he lead her to a truck in the back of the building_._

She grunted as he pushed her into the back of the truck, where items would normally be stored. He hoped in as well leaning out a brief moment to tell the driver to "Go" then shutting the sliding door. He flicked on an overhead lamp that had been placed in the truck's back so one could see in the darkness.

Nichole frighteningly looked up at him.

_He....He's heartless. How dare he...HOW FUCKING DARE HE!_ She screamed in her mind. Her whole body felt numb.

She could still hear the screams of her students in her mind. They echoed and rung in her ears. She wanted the walls around her to stop spinning. She felt dizzy. The feelings inside of her made the bile in her stomach start to rise.

He grabbed her by the neck and pulled her upwards so she was eye level with him. Her feet were off the ground and his grip on her was making her not be able to breath. She choked trying to claw at his hands to let her go. Her head felt light as a feather and her anger made her shut her eyes in fustration for a moment. His grip on her made it feel like he wanted to decapitate her.

She looked into his eyes and saw no emotion.

Just two dark orbs.

Two tunnels she became lost in.

He sneered through his teeth. "Yanno I really expected you to spill the news to that friend of your on the phone, but to your _students-sah?..._Quite a shock to me, but I still _knew_ you would tell someone. It would have made it easier if you told that Tom of yours though. Killing one person is much better then killing twenty. Know why? With one person you can...try all sorts of things on them. I wanted to try something new called "The Swedish Cut" on someone. Too bad. You see when killing a lot at one time, knifes won't work. They are too slow. Some could get away. But guns are perfect. They get the job done, but it is quite frankly less entertaining. What's wrong Nichole...why are you so quiet?" He said as he watched her face turning slightly blue due to the fact she couldn't breath. "I'm TALKING to you."

He threw her backwards. Her back slammed against one side of the truck's inner walls and she landed on something solid and made a small _crunch _noise when she fell on it. She took in the biggest breath of air she had ever taken; oxygen filling her deprieved lungs. She rubbed her neck, his grip on it caused it to turn very red and a purple cruise began to form. Her mind was off the pain of her neck and on the fact she could breath again.

How she had taken air for granted all these years.

He came closer to her knife out, and kneeled in front of her. He was wearing a sick grin, that caused her heart to go on a rapid beating frenzy inside her chest.

"Nikki...poor little Nikki." He licked his lips, faking a caring expression on his face. "She fell down and hurt herself...." He put his hands on his knees.

"Y-You're a-a-a monster..." She manged to say, but her voice sounded as if she had just ran a marathon. Her throat was pounding in pain.

He grabbed her chin, his hand shaking due to the fact her whole body was shaking in fear. This amused him more then ever.

"Oh let's not use those kind of words now. They might...get me...angry." He began to trace her cheeks with his knife. She shuddered as the cool blade careress her skin. Goosbumps formed on her arms and she caught her breath in her throat.

He sat their tracing her cheeks, thinking of something to say. He had to make her just go crazy. He had to make her cry out, not in physical pain, but emotional. Then he got an idea. He grinned.

"Does it depress you Nichole?...Does it make you feel responsible...for your student's deaths. After all had you not said _anything_ to them, they might all be home right now...safe and warm in their little beds. I wonder how their parents-sah will feel when they get a phone call that little Billy or little Jane was shot numerous times till dead. How much pain they must be in, to never see their child's face again. Well of course they could see it, but the blood might turn them away...I think blood makes a person's features really stand out." He stroked her cheek more with his knife. His eyes glinting dangerously in the dim light.

Nichole's lip trembled as more and more tears fell down her face. He was playing mind games with her and he was winning. He tightened his grip on her chin, placing the knife back to her neck. "How are you going to **sleep**...at night knowing you caused the death of so many, and you get to live..._for now."_

She couldn't hold it in. Her silent tears turned into a quiet sob. She felt so helpless at this moment.

Her thoughts and mind was heading downward.

She felt her eyes shut momentarily without her meaning too.

She heard a sound that sounded like a dying animal.

Only then did she realize it was herself. Her hysterical sobs ringing in her ears.

He let go of her chin and stroked her cheek, now with his gloved hand instead of his knife. "_Oh shush shush shush shush shush._ There there. No need for tears." He said with a fake caring tone.

He roughly wiped away a few tears with his gloved thumb.

It felt as if he was trying to tear away the skin on her face.

She knew he was right though deep in her mind; Had she not said anything to her class, they would be alive.

_It's all my fault....._

Yes, he had killed them, but she lead him right to the school. She cried for the loss of her friends, and for the fear of what would happen to her.

_You did it Nichole....It's your fault. You did. No......NO!_

He couldn't think of anything else more to say on this subject so he decided to change it. "Soooo, how are things with you and your little "lover boy?"" He made quotes in the air, looking amused.

She blinked. His tone had changed entirely and he acted very calm. It was very strange to her that he possessed the ability to do that.

She had to force her mouth to open to form words.

"...L-L-Lover boy?" She said sitting up taller, trying to compose herself. She had no expected him to ask about Tom. She stopped shaking and pressed her hands into her legs to keep them from hitting the Joker in rage.

"Oh honestly Nichole.....I heard your little phone call with the guy. What a way to admit his love to you. Oh the romance! And I am very mad at you for lying to me. You told me Tom and you were nothing more but aquantinces. Now i hear you and him have a love connection? Seems you two are more close than ever." He said clapping his hands together and tilting his head staring at the ceiling. He was mocking her, and she was getting pissed off. The nerve of him to mock her after what he had just done.

"I don't love him." She said in a matter-of-fact tone.

He raised an eyebrow. "Not your type eh?"

She shook her head. "He's a bit of a jerk, and I see him as nothing more then a friend."

She was lieing to him at this moment.

She did in fact _like _him as more then a friend.

She only lied to the Joker to protect Tom. She couldn't let what happened to her class happen to him.

At this moment she would have to play her cards carefully.

And the Joker was the dealer.

He could tell she was lieing. He had to admit she could get a straight face going pretty darn quickly and during this particular moment in her very fearful situation, but her eyes; How her eyes showed every emotion. He gazed into them deeply soaking in her fear, stress, guilt, hate, angry, sadness, and mourning.

He licked his lips. "I thought about your _punishment-tah_ and-."

"Punishment?" She interrupted, in complete shock.

_Wasn't killing the ones I hold dear to me enough?_ She thought. _If you're going to fucking kill me get it over with you prick!_ She found it nice to vent her anger in her head. She could not speak out loud her anger. He'd kill her in a very grim manner if she spoke out of line. She hoped that he was going to kill her in a much easier way. Maybe a bomb...or...a gun. Anything.

_.....Anything but his knife. _She thought. She could not handle his knife.

"For not shutting your little mouth and well, I think I had a little _too_ much fun doing it." He grinned.

"Doing what...?" She gasped, her body freezing in her spot.

"Well I...gave your house a little...makeover." He laughed.

Her eyes widened. "What did you do?!"

He laughed more while saying, "Oh nooooothing. I just thought...that your house would look better as... a pile of rumple..." His laughter echoed in the truck. She wouldn't doubt the driver could hear it.

"Please...don't tell me you burned my house down..." She said in almost a whisper of disbelief.

His eyes grew very dark, his sick smile got even sicker. "Check what your sitting on if you don't believe me." He winked.

She instantly got up, almost falling over and turned around to see what she was sitting on. She let out a loud piercing scream at what she saw.

He dog's charred burnt body; All black and flaky. She kneeled down shaking, running a finger where its head was. "No no no no no no no no. Atticus...No!...No your not dead!" She cried out.

He had done it. He giggled so loudly. She was crying over a _dog_. People are just so predictable. This was making his day right now.

The boney black flaky body of her dog was before her very eyes. Bits of it were on her. She had been pushed to sit on him. The Joker had planned to throw her in that exact location so she would land on her precious dog's lifeless body.

That was the final straw.

It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

And now Nichole was going to break _the Joker's_ back.

Nichole turned around to face the Joker and ran at full speed at him. She reached her hands forward, trying to push him to the truck's floor, screaming. "YOU BASTORD! I'LL KILL YOU!"

He quickly reached out his arm, taking one of her arms as she got closer to him and flung her into a wall. She hit her head, but her anger made the pain seem like nothing.

She didn't want to feel the pain.

The pain of losing her students, and her dog overpowered it all.

She got up and charged at him again. He was not expecting her to recover so quickly so he was taken by surprise. She knocked him to the ground and she began to kick at his sides and neck as hard as she could.

"FUCK YOU!" She screamed. "I FUCKING HATE YOU!"

He was able to reach over finally and grab her legs. He pulled on them, causing her to crash to the ground. She quickly got up and began to punch at his hands, which were trying to get a grip on her arms and hold her down. He was able to stand up now and flung her across the truck and she crashed head first into the wall. She fell to her knees and banged her fists against the steel wall. Just shouting the word "no!" over and over again.

He walked over grabbed her by the back of the neck and pulled her backwards, causing Nichole to fall onto her back. She felt so weak, her was head throbbing. He straddled himself on top of her laughing, sitting on her stomach, knife drawn and by her neck. "Awh why so sad Nikki? Its just a brainless dog." He flashed his yellow teeth at her glare that she shot at him.

She tried to struggle out from underneath him by thrashing her arms back and forth and trying to kick her legs up, but she felt too dizzy. Blood was slowly making its way out of her head.

She could barely feel him on top of her.

She was numb everywhere. Her eyes couldn't even stay open that well.

He had another idea that would make her hate him.

"So let's talk about your mother." He suggested. "You seemed thrilled last _uh_.... night when I brought her up."

She sniffled. "No."

"So how did she die? Druggie? Alcoholic? Suicide? Gimmi details!" He laughed. He really could care less, but anything to make her cry was something he wanted to know about.

She squirmed from under him, trying to get out of his grip. The knife kept digging into her neck and causing a thin line of blood to start to form from underneath it.

"Burn in hell!!" She tried to scratch him with her fingernails, and ended up giving him a mark on his wrist.

He took the knife away from her neck throwing it on the ground and grabbed both of her wrists, to stop her from clawing at him. "A ta-ta, now none of that...and I'm sure I will see you in hell with me... Now tell me how your mother dearest died." He placed both her small wrists into one of his gloved hands, and brought his other hand down by her throat, slowly tightening his grip every second she didn't answer him.

She choked out, the pain hurting far worse this time on her neck, since the bruise was there. "She was killed in a car accident!"

He loosened his grip. "Oh that's not bad at all. Here I was expecting some sap story! Care to get more details _bea-u-ti-ful _we have only a few more minutes of driving to pick up my men and I don't want to be bored."

She put a blank face on, not wanting to talk about this subject at all, she looked into his eyes. They were dangerous and dark.

She had the intense urge to spit in his face.

"I was with her in the car. We were going home from my school play..." The Joker let go of her throat and let his hand rest next to her head. "She called my dad to see if he wanted us to pick him up some food, since we were all hungry and going to stop somewhere. She called him...a-a-and a woman picked up. He was cheating on my mom...... She got angry and sped home. I didn't understand fully what was going on at the time. I was only eight........On the way we past a four way intersection and... she was hit on her side of the car. My brother had a broken arm....and I was fine only a few cuts that needed staples, but she...she died on the spot."

"Dad then fled. Left my life. I didn't care about him that much anyways, because he was never around much in my life. So i was fine with it. I was sent to live with my brother. People tried to comfort me and pity me. But I didn't need it. I loved my brother and he helped me get through it, not any doctors or hospitals. But when I was 17, he went to the Iraq to fight in the war. So I lived on my own for a year, before I went to college outside of Gotham City." She stared off at the wall behind the Joker, still resisting the urge to spit at him.

_He doesn't even fucking care. He just wants to see me suffer..._

This whole time, the Joker listened intently. But he had to admit, the back of his mind was telling him he _really _liked the position he was in. Straddled on top of her. It was quite..._.fiery._ Her story wasn't what he expected. Everything she did was very unexpected indeed to him. Living alone in Gotham at 17? And still living alone at 23? Poor dear. Too bad he didn't care in the slightest bit. And too bad he would never care.

He isn't one to pity another person.

He isn't one to feel sorry for another person.

People to him are like tools.

You use them until you don't need them anymore.

Then you throw them away.

"Well your story has truly enlightened me with knowledge. You wanna know what it says to me?" He grinned.

"No... I don't want to know anything you have on your fucking sick mind." Nichole spat.

He slapped her across the face, laughing that she couldn't block it, since her hands were caught in his grip. "Yanno...I'm sick of warning you that...that kind of talk upsets me. There is no need for it! And tone down the voice level. I'm not deaf you know.."

Her face was completely numb at this point, but the blood had stopped flowing out of her cut on the top of her head. Or she just couldn't feel it anymore.

She thought she was going to pass out at any given moment.

"Your story tells me that you _reeeaaaaaaaa-lly _need therapy. Ever thought about Arkam Asylum? There food might be bad, but the padded rooms are very comfortable."

She glared at him, "I hate you...i hope you know that. I really fucking hate you."

He stood up off of her, dusting off his shoulder. "Sticks and stones..."

Just then the truck stopped and the truck's storage door opened. A few masked clown men came pouring in with guns. The Joker looked back at Nichole, withdrawing a piece of cloth.

"Sorry but this might be a little too sensitive to your eyes." He grinned tying it over her eyes pushing her into a back corner. He then tied her to the small knob attached to the wall. She sat there without compliant. They were probably going to be doing some drive by shooting. She didn't want to see anything of that sort.

She wanted to just sit there and cry. Letting her tears out now would be better than later. She didn't want the Joker to see her cry anymore. Every time she did, he would get happy and make her cry even more. Once he started he never stopped.

Her neck was killing her and she had never felt this much pain before...in her heart. He had taken away almost everything from her in the past two days. All that was left was her life and Tom's life. No matter what he could not get to Tom. She would make sure of it.

For a few moments, she thought she lost her consciousness. Everything was spinning in her head and she felt extremly hot. She could not find reality at the moment.

Then for the next ten minutes she heard everything. Different guns going off. Explosions. The truck stopping. The Joker going to the front driver seat of the truck singing _"Harvey, Harvey Harvey Dent." _as he did.

Everything went by so fast. It was almost dream like and Nichole wasn't sure it was actually happening. The noises she heard hurt her ears and any sounds that happened near her, would cause her to scrunch into a tight ball fearing it was the Joker coming to hurt her more.

But the next thing that happened, she didn't see or hear coming. She suddenly felt her body fall upwards voliently.

It took her a moment to figure out was going on, sense it seemed to be happening rather slowly.

_THE TRUCK IS FLIPPING OVER! WHAT THE FUCK! IT'S FLIPPING OVER-_

She screamed bloody murder as her legs flew upward, followed by her body.

She hit her head repeatedly on the ceiling screaming as blood from her head poured down her face. She laid in her own little pool of blood for a minute, before realizing the rope that had tied her to the wall had broke and the cloth around her eyes fell off. She could escape, that is if she could feel her legs.

The truck was still. They had crash landed.

She pushed herself forward towards a dim light she could see and then she was out of the truck via the upside down back door. She stumbled out still crawling. Her whole body shaking in pain. She could hear gun shots being fired and turned her head to see the Joker walking towards...Batman on his motorcycle thing.

He was screaming "Hit me! I wantcha to do it! **HIT ME!**" Batman veered to the left at the last moment. Nichole didn't want to see anymore. She crawled the opposite direction of the Joker keeping her eye on the road beneath her.

Her legs felt like they were going to give as she inched her way forward. She suddenly, felt a gun being pressed into the back of her head.

"FREEZE!" yelled a voice. They forcefully grabbed her by the shoulder and flipped her over so she was laying on her back. The S.W.A.T team officer pointed his gun down at her glaring.

"Oh thank god..." She said weakly. "I'm safe."

She wanted to shut her eyes and sleep suddenly. The weakness of her body overcoming her.

"You have the right to remain silent anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law." He grabbed her by the arm and yanked her upwards leading her to a cop car.

"Wait what?" She screamed. "No you don't understand! The Joker kidnapped me! I'm Nichole Stevens. Reported missing a few days ago!" She was shoved into the back of the car, still screaming in protest. She banged on the windows of the door as the cop closed it. "This is a **huge **misunderstanding!"

But the car moved forward and the officers ignored her completely.

"_Fancy seeing you in here..." _A soft voice chimed out. She glanced to the seat next to her horrifyed.

The Joker sat there, in handcuffs grinning, leaning his head against the window. He looked rather tired and worn out.

"Wha- why did they arrest me. What did you tell them!" She screamed at him. She backed up against the car door she was by, her lip quirvering. Her eyes did not want to believe he was in the car with her.

He put on a shocked face, looking around as if a crowd of people were all sitting around him listening to his story. "Didn't you hear? I guess some teacher, came into school and _murdered all_ her students. Then went home and burnt her house down, while her poor dog was inside it. Then she started to work for The Joker. Poor women must be a little _cr-aaaaa-zy_ in the head."

She hung her mouth open so wide in shock. This was his plan from the start. He _knew _she would tell someone about him. Who she would, it didn't matter, but he knew she would and whoever that was he was going to kill and blame it on her. The fact it was around twenty sophomore high schoolers was just a bonus to him, for that sounded more gruesome to the public. Teenagers dead.

"But honestly..." He began again. "I didn't tell them anything....they all assumed you did it." He began to laugh.

She let all her emotions out turning away from the Joker to stare out the police window. She cried shutting her eyes. The pain in her neck was fading and the pain in her heart was overpowering her. Her life was over now. Every part of it and this made the Joker extremely happy.

_It was all...part of his plan._

* * *

**Kait: **Does anyone else just love when the Joker sings his little "Harvey Harvey Harvey Dent" thing when he enters the front of the truck? I know i did, so i had to include it!


	5. Major Crimes Unit

**Chapter 5- **_(I noticed upon re-edited and Sydney brought it to my attention I had made a plot line error in this chapter. I had made it so Gordon was still at the MCU when he found out Harvey never made it home. So i changed that and stuck that part true to the movie, and added a Nichole and Tom scene to that part)_

The Joker began to drum his fingers on his lap. Nichole figured out he must have ADHD or something, because he could never seem to sit still. Even last night he kept pacing around or moving the knife he had on her from her mouth to her neck, because he couldn't keep it in one spot. She rolled her eyes at him, sniffling often as her tears died down a bit.

_I have to think! I have to to think positively! Once we get to the station, I can explain everything to the cops and be let go! This is perfect! He'll be in jail and I'll be safe!_ She said hopefully to herself.

A car ride, normally was a calming thing to Nichole. It allowed time to listen to music, sit back in a nice seat and drive around. Of course Nichole normally would be the passenger in a car, since she did not use one herself. Cars in Gotham were a waste. She'd rather walk or take a cab. But today the car ride was not calming. The fact that car she was in was a police car might have something to do with it.

Or it could be the insane person seated near her in the backseat....

"Are we there yeeeeet?" The Joker asked the driver like an annoying five year old would ask their mother.

"Be quiet back there." The cop replied sternly. "I don't want to hear it a word from you clown! When i say you have the right to remain silent, what I really mean is I don't wanna hear your mouth running!"

The Joker took into consideration what he said and simply licked his lips, not feeling the need to respond vocally to his attempt at "shaking up" the Joker.

After a few minutes of driving they were at the station; a cop was on either side of the car waiting for the criminals to be let out. They opened the door, one grabbed the Joker and the other Nichole. They gripped her forearm rather tightly and she winced at the act as she already had bruises there from the Joker. The two were lead inside the station getting glared at by everyone around the cluttered station. Nichole glanced behind her and saw a couple of the Joker's goons were in handcuffs as well being lead inside as well. They looked to be in much worse shape than Nichole herself. They must have been badly injuried when the truck flipped over.

The cop leading her brought her into a seperate room, to be patted down for weapons. The Joker and his men were all seperated as well to have the same thing done to them. Nichole would_ hate _to be the people searching the Joker. How awkward and traumatic it would be for the cop.

She was alone with one female officer. She thought this would be a good opportunity to tell them the truth and be let out of the situation she was in. They may be no other time to.

"Miss. Please. My name is Nichole Stev-"

But the cop interrupted her. "I know who the fuck you are. You murdered your class. Tell it to the judge! Now shut the hell up and stand over there. I ain't your lawyer."

The cop patted her down. She didn't strip search her.

_Thank god._ Nichole thought.

She was brought into a main room where a jail cell stood in the center.

A unique cell.

Nichole gulped at what was _in _the cell, praying she would not have to go into it, but the direction she was being lead by the cop, lead her to believe that in fact she would have to go into that particular cell.

The Joker sat there; His legs spread slightly. His hands extended down between them, clapped together. He was tapping his foot slightly, and drummed his fingers together, while the palms never ceased their contact with one another. He met eyes with Nichole and smiled. His makeup was all smudged and a shade of grey was now also on his face; by his eyes where the white and black makeup mixed. She could see his normal skin color every so often in little spots on his face. His face also had a sort of black tint to it. From the truck flipping over. Or dust, or something. His jacket was also off, along with his gloves. She could see they were on a nearby table; the knives and various things in his pockets out in the open and evidence bags nearby as well. His sleeves were rolled up to by his elbows.

He looked crazy.

Plain and simple.

****

The Joker grinned happy to see that his toy didn't get an injury that would cause her to go to the hospital and be away from the station when the show was just starting.

Although she did look rather weak.

Her hair was tucked behind her ears, exposing that she had a big blood stain on her right cheek. Her arms had blood on them, and her hair as well. Gravel was also stuck in her arm and shirt, suggesting to him that she had crawled on the ground, or had a lot of pressure applied to her when she was getting handcuffed by the officers.

After the truck flipped over he did not know what happened to her, nor did he honestly care. If she died in the accident so be it. Later it would be found out she was innocent and Batman would have been to blame for her death since he was the one to flip the truck over. That would have been so much fun to watch Batman's inner morals be shattered by her death.

But she survived the crash, so he'd have to improvise and figure out another way to make Batman...or Gotham...or the police become corrupt due to this one woman. It had to be possible. He put himself up to the challenge when he decided at that party to bring her along in his van.

He always liked to finish his work once he started.

Leaving it undone was just lazy and insulting.

He did not know if she was worthy though of his little bomb idea.

She had made a very big mistake today.

She tried to escape from him.

Sure he had given her, his punishment by burning her house down and blaming her for the crime of killing the students. Both had been fun. Lighting her house on fire was simple. Just throwing matches at it and some gasoline. Easy as pie. Seeing a dog scratching at the windows as it was being burnt to death was a little unexpected side show he had. After that he saw a great oppertunity to make Nichole go crazy. He walked in the burnt recked house and grabbed the dead burnt dog. Placing the dog in the correct spot on the truck's floor was a bit of a challenge though. He had to figure out, if he were to throw her in the back of the truck, how could he get it so she would land on top of the dog exactly and have it placed in a position so that she would not be able to see the dog's body under her. He practiced with stones. It only took him two tried to get the dead rotting animal in the right spot. And the killing of the students? That was easy as well.

All those punishments had eased his slight anger. For by her "telling on him", she messed up his plan he had with her. He was originally, before going on his little truck ride through Gotham to chase around the car holding Harvey Dent in it, was going to take Nichole and use her as a distraction on the other side of town, so that if the Batman was not Harvey Dent and really another person that was going to show up and bound to come stop the Joker from chasing around the cop car, The Batman would be too distracted with the problem across town with Nichole, to stop the Joker.

That little problem across town involving Nichole was originally going to be simple. He'd strap a bomb to her and put her on Main Street square. Right in the center. The four corners held four things that would be very near and dear to Gotham. A day care center, town hall, a very large apartment complex, and a retirement home. All of those things would be in blasting distance of Nichole's bomb on her.

Simple really.

And the Joker would have control of the bomb. If Batman were to show up and try to stop his Harvey Dent chase, he could pull out the bomb's controls and threaten Batman with it. He would tell Batman the location of the bomb and that would be that. Batman would have to let him go.

But that plan didn't happen and plan B was now the one in effect. His original plan, before grabbing Nichole. Due to her telling on him, he didn't think it would be fit for her to die at the hands of a bomb he made.

It be too quick and painless.

He'd deal with her himself at one point or another.

Nichole still was a mystery to him. All he knew was her past and now who she loves.....that Tom fellow or whatever. She had a strong will though. She was smart too. She picked her words carefully around him, trying not to anger him, but he had found out today that she had a breaking point. He had reached her breaking point and she attacked him. Which now shows she has a temper and by her telling her students about the Joker and taking their suggestions to leave, showed she had the will to escape as well.

But in all honesty she seemed like that type of person who wouldn't give in without a fight, and though he liked that, what he **didn't **like was her trying to escape.

He didn't want to chase her around all the time, just so he could finish what he started with her and finish her uses to him. She was going to leave Gotham had he not came in and dragged her back to him. He had heard her say that she was going to listen to one of her students and leave Gotham till, he, The Joker was behind bars. She would have left and he might not have seen her again. Sure he could tell where she went, but seriously if she left Gotham he didn't see the point in chasing her. She wasn't really _worth _THAT much of his time. Heck, today he was going to kill her, but she just got lucky.

But right now she was in Gotham.

His city.

His rules.

He glanced up yet again and saw Nichole was pushed in the cell along with a few others. She had decided to beg more, to try and force someone to listen to what she had to say. She went up to the bars of the cell holding onto them tightly; a few tears flowing down her cheeks. Tears of helplessness.

"Please you don't understand. The Joker set me up. He killed them. Not me! He burnt down my house. He kidnapped me! Please don't let me be in here with him! He's going to kill me!" She screamed. She shook the bars in her hands, though they were cemented to the floor, so this act did nothing. Her panicky mind was just telling her to release and vent her anger out on the metal poles that caged her away from the outside world.

The Joker rolled his eyes. Didn't Nichole understand yet that the cops aren't going to believe her? She was just wasting her energy. Energy that she would need.

"Back away from the bars!" The cops shouted. Nichole backed away only a few steps keeping her back turned from the Joker.

Oh she was going to play innocent and give him the cold shoulder now was she? He'd change that.

"Sooooo, My little Nikki didn't get _tooo_ injured in our little _accident-tah_." The Joker smirked.

Nichole turned around shooting a glare at him. "Don't talk to me!" She said in rage. "This is your fault!"

He laughed. "Oh oh oh, so the fact you are surrounded by cops makes you have a sudden courage spree, and makes you think you can tell me what to do? You think you can be all brave now, that everyone is watching ever movement I do? I'm surprised you aren't on the ground bawling your eyes out." He smacked his lips together.

"I said don't talk to me." Nichole said again, clenching her jaw in anger.

He really **was** surprised she wasn't breaking down on the ground, begging to him to tell the cops the truth. Nichole was very...unpredictable to him. She had only begged him once to let her go, and that was in the first ten minutes of being held by him. Then she never asked again. She was smart enough to read his ever changing mood. She knew that if she repeatably asked she'd be dead; This was something a normal dummy wouldn't be able to figure out. She was able to see he was not going to let her go and he didn't want anything she had to offer.

Money just wasn't important.

She also did what he asked of her. She answered all his questions, of course he had to force it out of her, but never the less, she answered truthfully. Except that one time when she was trying to get him to believe she didn't care for that Tom guy or whatever his name was. Just hearing Tom's voice in the ear piece the Joker had while listening to Nichole's converstaions sort of ticked him off. Tom gave off a "I'm better than you" type of vibe. Cocky. The Joker dispised those sort of people. They reminded him of the government. They thought they were better than everyone and just because they had power, they think they can rule over everyone.

Hmm choices. Choices. Too keep Nichole? Or to let her die? Such a hard decision. On one hand she did serve a purpose to him for his goal of corrupting the city and also some _other uses; _though they were secondary compared to Gotham's corruption goal_._ But on the other hand she was going to make this into a Cat-and-Mouse type game. A game he only enjoyed if it involved someone he wanted dead. He didn't want Nichole dead yet...Or did he? He couldn't decide. He had plans that involved her and helpped him out with his goal of Gotham corruption, but then again he could use another person besides her.

He had to decide. Talking to her to read her mood, may be the key in his decision.

He would not let her know of course the innternal debate going through his head.

The Joker patted the bench he sat on. "Come here." Nichole shook her head almost instantly. The Joker glared at her, but said very calmly. "Do you honestly think you are safe here? Do you think...that no one here is on my side? Do you think that I'm going to be in here forever?" He grinned as Nichole's eyes got wider and wider as he went on, seeming to understand fully that he would not be bluffing about such a thing.

And he wasn't....

Nichole gulped, staring into his dark and mischievous eyes. She slowly made her way to the bench and sat as far as she could from the Joker. The Joker let out a small giggled and slide himself closer to her, making her flinch in her seat.

"Wise choice..." He said, getting even closer, to the point where their elbows were an inch away.

He tilted his head towards Nichole speaking so only she could hear. "I hope today has taught you a lesson. Never try to escape from me...cause you won't win." He nodded his head. He wanted to try to get in her mind that he didn't like cat-mouse games. Cause he really didn't. So maybe if he convinced her to never try and escape again she'd listen. But he highly doubted that since she was a fighter and had already proved this point today with her little escape stunt. A useless stunt.

She let out a "pffft" sound, which only confirmed what the Joker thought. She was going to so try and escape again. The Joker licked his lips, eyeing her up and down once more, deep in thought.

Keep her or don't keep her. Keep her or don't keep her. Keep her or don't keep her. Keep her or don't keep her. Keep her or don't keep her. Keep her or don't keep her. Keep her or don't keep her. Keep her or don't keep her. Keep her or don't keep her. Keep her or don't keep her. Keep her or don't keep her. Keep her or don't keep her...

**Keep her.** She was just too much fun. She was unpredictable many times and breaking her down mentally today had been so hilarious. He wanted more. He grinned leaning even closer, putting a hand on her upper leg innocently.

*****

"Don't touch me!" She instantly shouted flinching at his touch. His hand felt like it was burning her leg, though it really wasn't.

Now him touching her right now really freaked her out. He had touched her in the past, but really it was with his knife and the time he straddled himself on top of her, it didn't freak her out since she was more concerned about what he was saying to be disgusted by him, but right now it freaked her out. Right now her focus was on him. She wished an officer would yell at the Joker to not be so close to Nichole.

He just grinned whispering into her ear. "The next...time.. you uh...see me with a phone in my hand." He pointed to his hand. "Get close to me..." He leaned away taking his hand off her leg. She raised an eyebrow in his direction, leaning her upper body away from him.

"What?" She was utterly confused.

"Just remember that." He pointed both his index fingers at her and made a clicking noise with his mouth.

_The Next time you see me with a phone get close to me?_ Nichole thought. _What's that suppose to mean? And why would he have a phone? He is...mental...Phones...phones. Oh phones! I can ask for my phone call and call Tom! He can get me out of he-_

But before she could finish her thought she heard someone shouting her name. "NICHOLE!?"

She recognized it to be Tom instantly. She lept up and raced to the edge of the cell and held onto the bars, scanning the room for him. A burst of joy filling her stomach. Here she had thought she would never see him ever again in her life. She prayed her mind wasn't playing tricks on her.

"Tom!" She shouted. She made eye contact with him, causing her heart beat to pick up and relief coming over her.

Tom half sprinted to the cell edge where Nichole was. Nichole started to let tears flow down her face, not of sadness, but of happiness. This was the first time she had seen him since she had been abducted. It felt like weeks, even though it had been only a day. Tom placed a hand on Nichole's face and stroked her cheek. It felt like an angel touching her face. She took in the warmth of his hand smiling.

"Nichole I told them everything! I knew that day you called me, something wasn't right. You would never act that way in this type of situation! Nichole its alright your safe now!" He glanced back at the Joker, and Nichole did as well. He was glaring at the two of them. Tempted to get up, yank Nichole backwards and say "Back off pal she's mine!" but he didn't. He knew his glare was more than enough to cause a shiver go up both of their spines.

"Nichole. Commissioner Gordon will just need to ask you a few questions and then your free to go. You can come home with me. Nichole....You're safe." Nichole smiled until she realized what Tom was about to do.

He was leaning in closer, inches away from her face tilting his head pulling her head closer with his hand and then he kissed her lightly. Nothing fancy or special, a simple three seconds of lips meeting and then parting.

Her stomach twisted in a thick knot.

All her life she had been friends with Tom.

All her life she wanted to be more than friends with him, and wanted a kiss from him.

But right now a kiss was something she didn't want. Of all the times.

The reason of course being because of the man behind her.

The Joker.

He'd was able to clearly see and hear the sound of Tom pecking her lips for a moment. Because of this, the simple act of showing affection and thankfullness that Nichole was alive, Tom was now in danger. The Joker always went after people that were connected to the person who he was mad at. He was most certainly mad at Nichole. Now that he could see the person she loved, he had a new target.

Tom smiled stroking her hair for a moment and placing loose strands behind her ear, before turning around, due to a nearby guard placing a hand on his shoulder. "Come on you can't be back here." He said.

"Okay I'm coming..." Tom said, not leaving his eyes from Nichole's. "I'll see you when they get this cleared up." Tom smiled, kissing her cheek and turning around leaving the room.

All feelings of warmth left as soon as Tom left.

She forced herself to turn around to see the Joker. His face in the utter most evil grin, she had ever seen. He took in the increasinly red blush that stained her face.

She swallowed the lump in her throat and looked away from the Joker to stare at the ground. She stood there for what felt like at least five minutes. She could see the Joker moving and changing his sitting position a few times. One leg rested on top of his other leg. Then in the next few seconds it be, both legs planted firmly on the ground, but his upper torso hunched forward.

_He never sits still..._Nichole thought absently.

A guard suddenly opened the cell. "Nichole you can come out." She said.

"Remember what I said Nichole..." Chimed the Joker giving a small wave goodbye.

Nichole lost her train of thought staring into his intense black eyes and went to walk out of the cell, but banged her head against the cell wall. The Joker let out an amused laugh as Nichole rubbed her head walking out of the cell.

"Oh Nichole. What am I to do with you?"The Joker said to himself, leaning back in his seat.

Nichole was able to hear him clearly though and shuttered at his voice.

_He was so...so...creepy. _She shuddered.

Nichole was lead out of the cell holding area and to what looked like an office type room. Many paper filled desks lined it. Officers were coming and going like fireworks, seeming to have a smile on their faced due to the fact the Joker was behind bars. The guard gave her a cloth and a bottle of water.

The female guard smiled saying, "Here, to clean up all the blood. Commissioner Gordon will see you in a second OK?" Nichole nodded taking the cloth and pouring some water over it.

She wiped off all the dried blood on her skin. The various blood stains on her arms and legs came off easily, but the blood on her face she could not see, since she had no mirror with her, so she only guessed she got most of it off of her. The cloth was stained red all over and the pit of Nichole's stomach felt uneasy. She thought she was going to throw up for a moment, but felt better as she shut her eyes. She opened them after a few minutes and felt much better. She tried to think happy thoughts. Like of Tom...how he was in a room very close to her and going to take her home away from the Joker. Away from the chaos she had to endure for these two days.

It almost felt like it was all a dream; as if none of it really happened. She figured it would sink in around night time when she went to bed.

Commissioner Gordon walked into the room carrying a tray of food. He placed it in front of Nichole.

"Listen-" He said sitting down smiling. "I know you didn't do anything. I know it. And I'm sorry for what you have been through." He noticed Nichole sat perfectly still. "Well eat up go on." He said laughing, ushering her to eat the food off the tray.

"Oh...sorry." She smiled reaching forward, grabbing the chicken tenders and eating them, while Gordon continued to talk.

"No need to apologize. You didn't do nothing. I just need to know a few things. Like what happened after he got you out of the party and what he did to you and where he took you. That sorta thing."

"Well...I don't remember exactly where he took me but. I could definitely describe the place for you, and tell you a street its a few blocks away from." She said nibbling on her chicken.

Gordon smiled. "That's a start ok then, what happened at the party? What caused him to grab you?"

"Well I was in the bathroom and when I exited-" Nichole began but was interuppted when the mayor walked in.

"Gordon. What are you doing here? You should go home and rest. We can take questioning from Nichole tomorrow." The mayor told him with a smile.

Gordon sighed. "Alright then. Well Nichole it has been nice meeting you and I'll see you tomorrow alright?"

"Yes...thank you." She smiled.

"Heh...eat up your food. You must be starving." He told her as he walked out of the room.

Nichole ate everything on the tray. She didn't realize she was so hungry since that moment. She hadn't eaten since the party really. Her nerves didn't allow her to eat anything today. She most likely would have thrown up anything.

She then just sat there, leaned back in the chair, thinking. Why couldn't she just have had said no to the party? Why did all bad things happen to her? What did the Joker do to Harvey Dent? And what did the Joker mean by his little "get close when he has a phone" thing? And where did Tom go?

_Probably getting questioned himself. _Nichole thought as she answered her own question.

Suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. It was Tom

She started to stand up, but he pushed her down. "No relax. Relax Nichole you're safe."

She looked at him and smiled. "Tom I was so worried....So worried I'd never see you again."

He kneeled in front of her and kept his hands on her upper arms, smiling at her. "I know...I know I know...We can talk about that later. We don't have to talk about that monster now." He leaned in a hugged her tightly.

She winced, as he was hitting her bruises. "Ah...."

He pulled back instantly alarmed. "What...What is it?" He panicked.

"My bruises....You leaned to hard on them." She rubbed her arm as he let go of her.

He now eyed her fully up and down, and gasped in horror at the large hand shaped bruises around her neck and on her exposed arms. He could see places where she attempted to wipe off blood, but it still remained; sticky and persistant.

"Oh Nichole..." Was all he could mutter in sorrow. "How could a person do such a thing to another person..."

She leaned forward and rested her forehead on his shoulder. "Easy....He's not a person. He's a monster."

"Nichole..." He put one hand on her cheek and she leaned her head away so there was enough space for the two to look into each other's eyes.

She placed her own hand on his face, taking in his smooth skin under her palm. "Tom...I wanted to tell you everything on the phone...but I couldn't....I couldn't bring myself to tell you that...Tom I really do-"

Her sentence was stopped, when mad yelling sprung out. The two looked up alert adn saw officers scrambling around like the station was a mad house.

"Harvey Dent never made it home!" They were yelling.

One officer came over to Nichole. "Nichole...We actually do have to ask you questions right now. Harvey Dent never made it home. The Joker has something to do with it. We need to know everything you know. Sorry Tom we need privacy."

Tom frowned. "I'll be back Nichole."

He kissed her forehead gently, just as a lover would do.

Tom then was lead down a hallway that lead to the main lobby area of the MCU, where he was suppose to wait for Nichole to be released.

The officer then asked her to explain everything and she did. Her story seemed useless to the case at hand, but they were demanding to hear it. Just as she was about to dive into the details of what happened in the truck a large number of gasps and "Drop your weapons!" were being shouted in the room she was in.

She looked up to see the Joker holding a large sharp broken glass piece to an officer's throat. Another meat shield to him. Nichole stood up leaning forward, hands on the desk in front of her, eyes widened.

The Joker spotted her and winked at her, making chills run down her spine, before turning to the cops asking "What do you want?" to him.

"I just want my phone call." The Joker stated in a sigh.

Nichole felt the bile start to rise in her throat as he said the word "phone" so flatly..

_Phone call. Phone calls require phones. He had said get close when a phone was in his hand. Oh dear god._ She thought in a panicky state of mind.

A cop threw the Joker a cell phone and he caught it with ease.

_What should I do? What if he was just making a quick phone call to one of his men to bail him out. No no no he can't be bailed out nor would he risk a man's life to call one of his men._

He started to dial a number, telling the officer in his grasp to shush.

_But he could have been bluffing, should I just scream out don't let him finish the call? Oh my lord no! Then he'd be mad or kill me. Should I just rush over and get close to him. And how close is close? Hugging or a few inches. Or where I stand? Maybe I should run out of the room. But he might kill the officer if I do that. _

He finished dialing the number and threw the officer down to the ground along with the phone, licking his lips staring at Nichole.

_Oh what the hell..._

Nichole didn't know how, but she lept forward screaming slightly arms extended outwards. She got right in front of the Joker and wrapped her arms around him just above his hips, hugging him tightly burying her face into his chest. He smelled of explosions; If that is even a scent.

The Joker was in shock, she had listened to him. She wasn't that much of an idiot after all. This only confirmed his idea that she could read his moods. She was able to tell he wasn't bluffing.

It felt a bit odd to have her awkwardly hugging him like this, so he remained still looking down at her clearly amused.

She stood there hugging him for what seemed like a few seconds before she heard a loud explosion and the ground shake from underneath her. A gust of wind hit her, as the sound died out.

At that moment she sort of blanked out, and felt the ground fade beneath her. Everything felt as if it wasn't actually happening.

When she realized the noise was gone, she let go of the Joker backing up as much as she could. One of her arms had been cut by a piece of glass that flew by her from a window breaking.

She made the mistake of looking him in the eyes.

He was grinning, body slightly tilted, she guessed he positioned himself that way to brace for the impact of the explosion. The Joker then swallowed the lump in his throat, truly at loss for words. Witty remarks were not entering his mind to say like they normally did.

He left the room a second, only to return with all his knifes in his hands. He ushered Nichole to follow her, and she unwillingly did so. Once in the next room, he briskly walked past her shoving her in the chair she stood near as he walked by and went over to Lau's cage jingling the keys he held in his hands.

Nichole landed on something soft, looking down to see it was the Joker's purple jacket. The Joker was too busy to notice it. He unlocked the prison cage and said to Lau, shoving his knife by his neck "Hello there. Your going to be my driver today. I hope your license is valid here." He joked.

He pushed Lau forward who looked like he was about to wet himself (Or already did) and grabbed Nichole by her wrist leading them both outside. She grabbed the jacket though as he took her, knowing very well he would be pissed if she left it there.

He lead them to a cop car parked out in the front. He threw Lau into the front and got in the back seat himself flinging Nichole in as well. She placed the jacket in the middle seat awkwardly, and scooted as far away from the Joker as she could. Lau started to drive, shaking in fear all the while making the car veer to the left and right often.

Nichole couldn't believe what was happening, she just could not. The Joker manged to escape jail, with many officers watching over him not even three feet away. Along with that he had her again and he was angry with her still. Everytime he would look at her ever since he came and attacked at the school, a dark pent up anger was in his eyes, waiting to come out. She did not want to be alone with him at all, because that is when he would let out his anger.

She thought she was safe. She had been with cops and her friend and they couldn't even protect her in the police station. He was too dangerous and a mastermind. Why did this have to be her? Why couldn't it been someone else?

She could never escape this madman, but she had to find a way even if she failed, she needed to try. She was not going to give up and quit.

But right now escaping was not part of her plan.

Surviving was a much better plan.

She kept thinking of Tom's horrifyed face as he would be told that Nichole was taken for the second time by the Joker. The tears that would flow from his eyes. The pain in his face and heart.

It was a worse pain than the pain of the cuts on her neck.


	6. Real Fear

**Kait: **It's odd. The Dark Knight i originally thought would be a horrible movie. And then what do you know. It's my favorite movie of all time. So glad i went to see it. As you are i hope.

Reediting note: And remember. Any chapters that have been reedited by me all begin with the bolded **"Chapter (insert Chapter number here)". **Like the one you will see under this line right here.**

* * *

**

**Chapter 6**

The car swerved back and forth on the road; Nichole shaking a bit from the explosion still, and the Joker rolling down his window. In one quick action, he stuck his head out, shaking his hair in the breeze, shutting his eyes.

Nichole looked at him, mouth hanging open slightly.

He looked so...peaceful.

He had just escaped jail, captured Lau (so he now controls the mob's money), AND kidnapped Nichole...again.

Everything went according to his plan and now he was doing a little celebration.

Even through all the trauma and being scared shitless, Nichole couldn't help the fact she was staring at him with her mouth hung open in amazment and shock. She watched his every movement, his mouth curved slightly into a smile. He now had opened his eyes and was looking up at the way he looked, eerie and yet peaceful. It was just...strange. He looked like a dog hanging his head out a car window enjoying the breeze. But the Joker was enjoying his chaos and _his_ city.

It was disturbing.

Eerie.

Creepy.

The simple action he did, caused Nichole to have a numb light headed feeling.

_He is...so...crazy...._ She thought to herself.

He sat back down normally in the car, not bothering to roll the window back up. He sat like that for a moment, with his hands resting on his knees before he turned his gaze to Nichole. He raised an eyebrow seeing her staring at him. She kept her eyes on him, as this was the most time she spent looking at him dead in the eye the entire time she has been around him. Even when she first saw him, she avoided eye contact.

Eye contact was such an intense thing in Nichole's eyes. Eye contact in his dead and dark eyes was something that made her want to cry out in fear. She had to avoid it, for it would give him pleasure to see her in that state of mind.

She came to her senses as they remained staring silently at one another and jumped a bit in her seat embarrassed. She stared back out her window, her face turning red. She half expected him to slap her or something for staring, but he enjoyed getting the attention.

But she didn't want him to get the wrong idea that she was interested in him in anyway at all.

She loathed him with a passion and that was how she intended him to know that every moment of every second she was around him.

They sat in silence the rest of the trip. The Joker noticed Nichole had grabbed his jacket and put it on, with a little bit of trouble due to tight space in the car. He accidentally punched Nichole's arm when he put his arm through his sleeve.

He laughed. "Oooho ho sorry."

He wasn't.

He found it quite hilarious.

Nichole gave him a disgusted look, before staring out her window again, only to feel her stomach drop ten levels. The car pulled up to the old familiar house she had been in before, the Joker's home. The old beat up building shouldn't be that familiar to her, but it was. Every detail of it. She always had a good eye for detail, and that's why she had taken a few art classes at night in her college years.

A few men were outside the house waiting for the Joker to return. One man went to the front of the car and took Lau off to the back. Nichole wasn't paying attention to that, she was paying more attention to the Joker who had a tight grip on her upper arm and was now dragging her forcefully into the house. His grip was on her rope burn, whether he knew it or not, but it was very painful and caused her eyes to tear up.

His fingers pressed tightly into her delicate skin, and surely was causing more bruises to appear.

It was then she realized how a simple grab to the arm, was painful by him.

She didn't want to think what he was going to do with her now that she was back in his clutches.

_He's going to kill me!_ She panicked in her mind. _Or do what he did to that guy on the video tape that was on the news! He's going to do something bad! Oh god...Please let it be quick!_

When they walked inside, instead of going downstairs to the basement where she thought she would end up, they went up a flight of stairs, and down a rather long hallway. The Joker let go of her arm and reached into his coat pocket pulling out a key and after a few failed attempts with the wrong keys, he unlocked the door. He pushed Nichole in first, causing her to stumble, then followed behind shutting and locking the door behind him.

She turned gulping at the sound the lock made.

He winked at her. "Don't like it when people come into my room-_mah_...when I'm not there."

Her eyes widened, uponing hearing what the room was. She did a complete 180 degree turn around to see what the room she was in looked like, not wanting to, but did so anyways.

It had two windows. The only reason she noticed this first was because numerous boards were nailed in over them. There were spaces between different boards so one could peek out of them without someone outside noticing. It had one small closet, doors had been broken off. In the closet were not clothes, but boxes. There also was another door which lead to a bathroom in the room.

_The Joker had his own private bathroom?_ She wondered why he would need one, but she guessed maybe he liked his privacy when he put his make up on.

_How odd it was....That he puts on makeup. How odd it would be to watch him put on makeup_. She thought absently. _He is so strange. The fact he chooses to wear makeup and walk around in it._

It had one bed in the far corner. It had one dirty purple comforter on it, with a single pillow with random black and red marks smeared on it. The Joker must sometimes not take off his makeup when he sleeps. This caused the bed to look extremely dirty and lumpy.

She did not want to be anywhere near that bed. She wouldn't even want to touch it with a ten foot pole.

That bed held the monster at night.

It was contaminated.

There was a desk by one of the windows, a wooden chair by it. The desk had one lamp, without the shade on top of it, and many papers and pens filled the desk. A few books, and photos were also on it. She tilted her head to try to glimpse at what they were, but she was too far away and she really didn't want to be a snoop with the Joker right behind her.

_Oh fuck...He's right behind me..._

She jumped in her spot, now remembering the Joker was behind her. She had been in too much of a shock to be in his actual bedroom, to remember or think logically at the moment. She wished her mind would work properly when she was in a state of panic.

She spun back around, letting out a gasp to see the Joker was **right **in front of her. She could feel him exhale and send the burst of air on her face. She looked up at him, the fact he towered over her made her feel like a small mouse looking into the eyes of a hungry cat.

She backed up, but he merely followed her. "You look...tired. Why dontcha sit down." He gestured to the wooden chair by the desk, walking over to it, picking it up and placing it in front of him.

He was a cat staring at its prey, taunting it by keeping its retractable claws hidden.

Waiting to pounce at the right moment...

She hesitatingly sat in it, rubbing her hands nervously. She wanted to beg, but the words would not leave her throat.

Instead of walking around to be in front of her, he stood behind her, hands on the chair, leaning down by her ear to talk to her. "So here we are again..." He licked his lips. "Let the fun begin_-nah_."

She did not like that she could not see him; only his hands on the chair in the corner of her eye. His voice dragged on in her ear, even though he stopped talking. She felt as if she was caged in.

She found her voice, and she had a question. A question she had wanted to ask for a long time.

"Why do you keep me here...Why me? What do you want from me? I'm serious you can have all the money I own, just please let me go." She asked almost in a whisper.

He grinned, almost regretting to be standing behind her so she couldn't see his grin.

"Yanno when I said 'let the fun begin' I did not mean it for you to start begging and asking me questions. But if you really want to know it is because...you are my tool. You have uses. And it just so happens that you a one of the most different tools I have ever had the pleasure of using. Everything you do...You aren't like those half a brain citizens in this town. You are more or less...unpredictable."

That was unexpected to her eardrums.

"You aren't a whiner. Unlikes many other hostages who just whine and whine and whine 'Ooooo Joker let me go! Let me go!'" He said in a mocking fear tone of voice, "Well...I admit you did whine once and just now...So that be twice...but that was it. You are one smart cookie. You read my moods. Ten points to Nichole." He patted her head as if she was a dog.

"That can't be the reason..." She whispered.

She felt something against her neck. She didn't even have to look down to know it was his knife. "And you actually _listened _to me. Very unpredictable. Though I admit, I didn't know-" He walked around the chair and kneeled in front of her, now facing her, looking deep into her terrifying eyes. "I didn't know that you liked me that much." He licked his lips pushing his hair back with his knife in a sexual suggesting way.

She raised an eyebrow in disgust. "What are you talking about?"

He grinned. "Oh don't play the dumb blonde card." He let his knife brush against a lock of her blonde hair. "You seemed rather eager to run up and throw your arms around me." He threw his head back in a fit of laughter. "So _bea-uuuuu-tiful _why didn'tcha just tell me you had the hots for me." He wiped one of his eyes. He was tearing up from his laughter. The black makeup smudged a bit and some landed on his hand.

He placed one hand on her upper leg, looking smug. The paint smeared on her pant leg now.

She was determined to make him stop after that. "I only did that because the look in your eyes!"

He was now the one raising an eyebrow. "Oooo so you like me for me eyes." He made a clicking noise with his tongue. His hand on her leg tightened a bit, holding onto the jean material.

"What makes you think I like you?" She said irritated, resisting the urge to bat away his proweling hand. "I reached out because I knew you were about to do something...bad. I could see it in your eyes. I knew you were going to escape, and cause people to die in the process, and quite frankly I don't want to die. I'm just good at reading people. I could tell you weren't bluffing."

He tapped his knife on his chin in thought and then pointed it at her. "You woulda been safe a couple of feet in front of me." He grinned, tilting his wrist slightly. "But no no no don't get me wrong, I preferred what you did better. Heh haaa hahaha!" He laughed more. He was having too much fun with this woman.

Messing with her was a joy to him.

He always liked to mess with people.

It was like a hobby to him.

A hobby he was good at.

Time to mess with her more....

"The only reason I brought this up was because...when we were in the cell, and I innocently put my hand on your leg like this-" He pointed with his knife to his hand that was placed on her upper leg. "-you flipped out at me and went craaaaa-_zy._ Yet you later touched _me. _You wrapped your arms around me. I should let you know I'm not a fan of hypocrites."

"You just insulted yourself. Your a hypocrite!" She said aggressively without thinking.

His face twisted into a glare. "What did you just say?"

She looked at her lap, her eyes widdened at what she had just said. She coughed saying softly. "N-nothing."

_Why can't I learn to keep my mouth shut! Nichole you idoit! _She screamed in her head.

The Joker then stood up grabbing the bottom of the chair's seat and picked up the chair, Nichole in it still, and threw it across the room in anger.

Nichole's stomach fell and she tightened her hold on the chair as it was sent flying across the room. The air rushed into her meeting in a cold damp breeze and rush of terror.

The wall came closer and closer to her face until-....

The chair and Nichole came crashing into the wall sending the chair into hundreds of various sized pieces. The loud noise the crash made, caused the Joker to smile.

Nichole hit her head rather hard against the wall, and a large piece of the chair stabbed her in the back of her leg.

The wind got knocked out of her. She couldn't breath for what seemed like minutes.

She was choking; panting for any air to enter her weak body. She clutched the material of her shirt by her rip cage, in some vain attempt to squeeze air into her.

Finally her lungs allowed her to suck in oxygen. She took in deep breaths of air, trying her best to ignore the throbbing pain on her head where she hit the wall.

_If this keeps up, my whole body will be purple with bruises....._

Despite the pain she reached behind her and pulled out the piece of wood lodged into her leg, and began to pull out the smaller pieces that were in her arms. Her head felt like it was a big weight on her and would not stay looking upright. Her head drooped forward causing her neck to crack loudly. She cried out in more pain, her body shaking.

"Ughh....." She said under her breath as she pulled another piece of wood out of her.

Her whole body felt like it was about to break in two.

Blood ran down her legs and soaked through her clothes.

Her body made tapping noises against the ground as it shook against it.

The Joker smiled stalking closer to her, grabbing her chin pulling her face upwards so she could look him in the eye. "You still can't hold your...tongue I see. Keep it up, I can solve your problem for ya." He said, the irritation in his voice fading.

Seeing the chair and Nichole hit the wall calmed him down a bit, and definitely was satisfying.

He took a tighter grip on her chin and lifted her to her feet, by her chin. She let out a grunt, as this really _really _hurt. She wouldn't be surprised if he had dislocated her jaw. He let go making her stand up straight. She stumbled a bit forward and placed a hand automatically on the Joker's shoulder to keep balance, for she knew if she fell forward and hit the ground, she would surely pass out.

She regretted it.

His smile turned into a smug grin.

"See?! You can't keep your hands off me." He licked his lips, as she immediately placed her hand back down by her side, using the wall behind her for support.

_You fucking asshole!_ Nichole screamed in her mind. She wanted to shoot him right now. She wanted to say that out loud, but was resisting the urge, knowing that her body could not take another blow. She was getting weaker and weaker.

"I-....I can't stand up....I'm going to pass out." Nichole said, feeling very woozey.

"Oh tut tut tut. Stop trying to act all innocent you know you _want _your hands all...over me." He chuckled.

"That's it....You fucking pig!" Nichole screamed. It took her a moment to realize she had said that out loud, and not in her thoughts like she had meant to.

Nichole without thinking ran towards the door, fumbling with the lock.

_I can't spend another minute with him! I'm going to fucking die! He's freaking crazy!_

The Joker reached out grabbed the back of her head and yanked her backwards. He then got in front of her and shoved her into a wall, holding onto her chin and left cheek with one hand, and with his other hand he shoved her hip into the wall with a lot of force making her squirm.

Her spine was being crushed into the wall. Her shoulderblade felt like it was on the verge of dislocating. A wall never felt so solid and never felt so much like a cage.

"I might have to take back what I said about you being smart-_tah_. Cause what you just did...wasn't too intelligent." He nodded his head, looking at her as if her was scolding her etticate at a formality school.

Nichole wanted to scream. To tell the Joker he is crazy and to let her go. To grab a knife and kill him. To run out of the building and wish that all this never happened. To wish her dog was still alive. All she had left in this world was her brother, who was in Iraq and Tom.

And Tom's life was now at stake.

She had to keep Tom away from the Joker's mind and interest. If his interest was piqued all hell would break loose.

It was as if the Joker was reading her mind. "Sooo are you happy Nichole? Are you happy that little friend of yours came down and puckered up with you? Are you happy? I swear I saw you blush Nichole. Or was that just because you were upset it was him kissing you and not me?"

She blinked. "What..." Her tone was more alert then before at what he was implying.

_What...did he just say..._

_Oh my god no...Not this..._

_ANYTHING but this....I must have just heard things...He couldn't have said that. It's the Joker... He wouldn't say that._

Even false hopes were no more a comfort to her than his hand pressing her face to the wall.

"Yanno a feeling coursed through me as he did that to you...wanna know what it was?" He asked.

"N-n-no." she choked out.

"Well I'll tell you anyways. I wanted your little friend's head to be placed in an elevator doorway and then I press the top floor button and watch him suffer. That's what I wanted to happen.. Because he got to you before I did." He grinned. "But, but don't worry. I'll take care of your dearest Tom for you."

"No! You leave him alone!" She screamed defensively. "You're sick! You're sick and twisted! I fucking hate you!!"

"Oooooh. You weren't a whiner before. Why start now?" He said in a way that sounded like he was disappointed that a five year old didn't pick up his toys.

"Well...I think your little boyfriend is not a bright one at all. If he really loved you, and by the way I must point out love is such a meaningless thing, but...if he really loved you, I think he would do something more along the lines of this--."

_Oh my fucking god...NO! NOT FUCKING THIS! NO!_

Before she could try and squirm out of his grasp, the Joker used the hand on her chin and wiped her mouth with his thumb and he wasn't to gentle about it. It felt like he was trying to rip her lip off her mouth.

The Joker grinned at her petrify face, before reaching a hand behind her head and pulling her face to crush into his lips harshly.

"No-" She screamed, but was muffled as his lips pressed forcefully into hers.

Nichole tried to scream, but her voice went away again. She was in too much shock to struggle. He kissed her with a lot of pressure, causing her lips to feel numb. She could feel his tongue starting to dart over her lips and she could feel part of his scars against her cheek. It was a very odd feeling.

Two scars burning her cheeks. His demon saliva on top of her chapped lips, burning away at her skin. Every warm staggering breath he would take she'd feel against her skin.

He pushed on the back of her head more causing her neck to feel a surge of instant pain. He dug his fingernails painfully into the side of her face and blood ran down her. He then shoved his tongue into her mouth.

Nichole shut her eyes and then started to struggle, kicking her legs, trying to shove him back with her hands, and trying to turn her head to the side so he would stop kissing her.

She was flailing around like an animal resisting its place on the chopping block.

Her screams were muffled, but still could be heard vividly.

The Joker fought back quickly. Keeping a steady hold on her head, using his other hand to collect both her wrists into them, and holding them down. He leaned his whole body forward pushing all his weight into her torso so she couldn't escape.

Her ribs felt like they were breaking under his chest.

She thought she heard a cracking noise in her rib cage, but after a few moment's realized it was just one of the buttens on his vest rubbing against her shirt.

He glided his tongue deep into her throat, making her gag reflex go crazy. The way he had his head tilted blocked one of her nostrils, so she couldn't breath easily. She let out a few more grunts and gasps, as he ran his tongue on her teeth. It tickled her causing her to go on her tip toes. The sensation was there, but she didn't like what was happening at all. His tongue kept pressing into hers. He was encouraging her to tongue wrestle with him.

But she wasn't going to give in. She locked it in position at the bottom of her mouth, but he was able to push it up with his serpant.

His tongue explored all areas of her mouth, leaving nothing untouched. She had to open her mouth more against her will, to relieve the enormous pressure he was pushing against her lips and mouth. It was almost as if he was trying to devour her entire mouth and fit it all in his mouth hungrily to satisfy himself.

She started getting the feeling back in her face and realized she was crying at this moment.

As she should be.

A mass murdering criminal dressed like a clown was kissing her!

All her fighting was started to exhaust her. Her legs fell limp and stopped their constant attempts to break free of the pressure his whole body was putting on her, pinning her to the wall.

Enclosing her in with no where to go.

But she tried to still free her hands.

The Joker then slipped his tongue out of her mouth and started kissing her cheek, slowly trailing down to her neck, where he bit down on a chunk of it. He misjudged how hard to bite and penatrated her skin. A warm liquid oozed into his mouth, as she let out a small scream. Her neck was throbbing in pain where he had punctured her. He licked her bite mark and then starting trailing kisses on her neck, going to the center of her neck, working his way to the other side of her neck.

Each time now his lips would come in contact with her skin, her blood was spread around. The actual wound site was dripping down blood constantly and of course it was in the shape of teeth marks as clear as the clouds in the sky.

She lifted her head upwards, and could felt her cheeks stain a red blush.

She didn't know what to feel.

Embarrassed?

Ashamed?

Angry?

The most easy way to explain how she felt with one word, was just shock. She didn't know what to do or how to react to this at all.

This was the last thing she expected from him right now. The _last_ thing.

She would wish a death upon her than to be in this situation, being sexually attacked by this monster.

He began sucking on her neck forcefully. The warmth of her body against his face beckoned him to continue.

As he sucked harder on her neck, blood began to rise through her pores as he sucked forcefully.

"Stop it!" She managed to scream at the top of her lungs, finally.

The Joker leaned back a bit to examine where he had been sucking on her neck, pleased to see a big red mark in its place. He looked at her face, hiding a laugh when he saw she was blushing in embarrassment.

He put his mouth by her ear and slowly whispered, "Are you blushing because you wanted this to happen all along? _Hmmmm? _Or is it because I can pleasure you waaaaaay better than mister tall dark and handsome Tom? _Hmmm?_" He chuckled. "But like I said....If Tom really loved you. HE would have done that...Not his weak little pansy kiss he did."

Nichole swallowed, shuddering at the fact she just swallowed the Joker's saliva along with her own. "W-What are you talking about? Y-You're insane!" She choked out.

The Joker merely grinned letting go of her wrists and leaned backwards, releasing his grip on the back of her neck.

Nichole rubbed at her neck, dropping to her knees, gasping for air. When he had been leaning against her with his body, it made it very difficult for her to breath, either that or the fact he was kissing her, made it hard to breath.

She began to cry hysterically.

The Joker slide off his jacket throwing it absently across the room. This was followed by his gloves coming off, but he placed them on the desk. He did this all very slowly and without much care. She noticed two things at this moment. He was breathing quite heavily at the moment, from the little assult he performed on her and she noticed he did look younger when his jacket was off.

She pegged him to be in his late twenties.

He ran his hands through his hair and shook it out, sending little drops of sweat and grease everywhere.

"Normally. I would prepare myself for bed." He pointed to his face, suggesting that sometimes he takes his makeup off when he sleeps, "But-tah...I'm actually a little tired. Today was rather...explosive" He mimicked an explosion with his hands. "So I want you to help...me out. Might as well make you come in handy until I figure out what to do with you." He grinned.

He walked back over to her slowly.

She pressed herself against the wall shaking as he got closer and closer to her. She looked like an animal frightened and quivering her lips.

He reached down and grabbed her wrist painfully. He flung her up and lead her to the door which lead to his own private bathroom, pulling her inside and placing her next to the sink.

He pointed to his face, and then to a towel, which had red white and black marks and smudges all over it.

"Do you mind?" He smirked. It didn't sound like a question though. More of a demand. He was enjoying this.

_You have got to be fucking kidding me...._ Nichole's mouth hung open slightly. She pinched her arm slyly behind her back, to stop herself from shaking any more.

Nichole reached down picking up the dirty towel. She went to the sink turning it on and running the towel under the water. She could feel the Joker's eyes following her every movement. He was watching her like as if she was his prey.

But really she was his prey.

He was in control of her.

She had to watch everything she did or said for if she were to mess up, he would surely kill her.

So far she was teetering on the edge of his fine line of patience.

She turned around and stood in front of the Joker, his smile eating at the core of her being. She reached up and pressed the towel on his cheek, and began to wipe off his makeup. It didn't come off easily though. A few strokes back and forth did the trick. She made her way to his forehead, removing all the white that covered it.

Her hand felt like it was burning as it rid him of the makeup.

"Do you mind...shutting your eyes please?" She asked pulling back the towel. "I don't want to get water in your eyes." She explained.

_I sound so fucking stupid!_

He shut his eyes, the grin on his face didn't fade. She ran the towel over the dark black makeup that covered his eyelids. She was slowly finding the human look in him. She ran the towel under the water again to remove some of the makeup, then saw all she had left to do was his scars.

He must have figured out that was all she had left to do too, because his grin disappeared and his eyes grew intense.

Staring her down he said quietly. "Lovely aren't they?" He ran a finger across his scars. "Go ahead touch them and see how rigid and wonderous they are." He reached down a grabbed her hand that wasn't clutching the towel and placed it on his left scar.

She ran her finger shaking a bit across his scar, then his lips, to the other scar. He smiled as her finger glided across his face. "Not so bad eh?" He licked his lips.

She just nodded her head, without thinking.

She was in a daze.

She ran the towel across his lips and scars to remove the red.

_There so...ugly...So disgusting. And yet....It must have been very painful to get them..._ She thought, then quickly thought again upon feeling a bit of sorrow for him. _He most likely gave them to himself. The fucking weirdo!_

It was an odd feeling for her to be pressing the towel into uneven skin that had curves and crevices in the shape of a permenant smile.

She turned around again to look into the mirror at herself. She had some white and red makeup all over her lips and cheek, from when the Joker kissed her. She blushed at her reflection, and then wiped herself with the towel, removing all the makeup. She made sure to wipe herself with the parts of the towel that did not touch his skin.

She felt her mouth hang open as she got her first good look at him without his makeup on. His skin was even toned, and perfect. His eyes that had always seemed black and dark to her, were now visibly brown. The black makeup had made them seem creepier. His two scars without the red on looked horrid. They were jagged and whoever tried to stitch them up did a god damn horrible job. There were circles under his eyes suggesting he hasn't had a good night sleep in forever. He looked creepy and yet more human. But she was stilled scared of him even without his makeup on, because makeup doesn't make the person, it only makes the person look creepier. The person is still the same person. He was still his sadistic, evil self, just makeup less.

She again had the urge to spit in his face.

His green tinted hair looked very odd against his skin though, and his purple pants, green vest and gray shirt and tie.

He grinned at her. "Aren't I a very handsome one Nikki? And just think. All this can be yours." He pointed to himself laughing.

Nichole whispered, hoping not to upset him. "Never." She spat.

***

He simply laughed more putting a hand on her cheek stroking it. This was the first time he ever put a hand on her without his gloves on. The warmth from his hand felt amazing, she shut her eyes involuntarily. She was tired and being warm just made it worse. "Oh Nikki...someday you should just give up and uh...give in to that part of you that _wants_ me."

How fun it was for him. The way he could mess a female was _soooooo_ different than the way he could mess with a male. And so easier.

The Joker was a man. He could not deine that.

A man has his needs. Although sex was towards the bottom of his list, it was still on there.

Strippers were too... Alike. All of them.

Nichole would be different, and most likely more enjoyable for him.

And after he was done, he had another use for her.

Strapping her to a bomb and placing her someone of importance in Gotham City and telling Batman he held the trigger to the bomb.

Telling Batman that if he were to chase him while he was doing whatever he was doing at the time, he'd pull the trigger and the innocent Nichole would blow Gotham citazens sky high.

Either way he would win.

Because in the end....

He'd still pull the trigger.

*****

The Joker sighed and then put his arm over Nichole's shoulder leading her back into his bedroom. "Now Nikki...My little Nikki. You are a feisty one aren'tcha? And I _knooooooooow _you would never ever think of trying to break that lock over there and escape _riiiiiiight?" _

_Thinking it? I plan on doing it._ She thought to herself.

"So in order for me to sleep better at night I've decided-" He went over to his desk, leaving Nichole standing a few feet behind him. He returned to her, handcuffs in his hand smiling.

_What the hell....._

He took her arms so suddenly and painfully and then wrapped them around his chest, so she would be hugging him and then handcuffed her hands behind his back. He grinned even more as he heard her let out a "Nooo!" and try to struggle.

But it was no use.

She was locked in.

She could back up about 4 inches away from him, but he kept a hand around her back pulling her in close.

"Ah. Now I can sleep better at night." He wrapped an around her waist and lifted her up walking over to the bed and laying down on it. Nichole had one arm pinned underneath the Joker. Her other arm was wrapped around his chest. He put an arm around her shoulder, so her head was snuggled under his arm and rested on his shoulder.

She hated this and he loved it.

"Oh this isn't soooo bad Nikki. Just think. I **could** have let you sleep with my men. But then of course there would be no sleeping tonight for you or them."

She gulped without thinking.

"But just consider this a free ticket. Tonight there would have been no sleeping between you and me...but if it hadn't have been for the fact I'm so tired I might pass out in the middle of whatever we were going to do, I would have probably just finished what we were doing and you would probably be dead by tomorrow."

She stopped breathing at that.

Her heart pounding out of her chest at what he was implying. He was going to rape her and then kill her. She had to get out of his grasp by tomorrow night, or she was a dead women walking.

She didn't even want to think about _how_ he was going to kill her...

She wanted to change the position she was laying in and try to avoid all this physical contact with him, but even she had to admit she was not entirely uncomfortable. His body was so warm, she didn't even need a comforter. Neither did he. She was so warm on him. He had never had a woman this close to him with the intent to not kill her at the moment, since...since...he can't even remember when.

The only thing uncomfortable for her was her one arm that was handcuffed underneath him. His weight was cutting her circulation off. But with the pain in her neck and leg, no circulation was nothing.

Fear overpowered her thoughts of sleeping, so she laid frozen on him most of the night. The day's events exhuasting her, but fear never sleeps. It was always there on your shoulder nagging at you.

Eventually, whether it be from complete exhuastion or she passed out, she fell asleep.

But the Joker laid there awake. Staring at Nichole's sleeping self.

"Tomorrow will be your hell. And my heaven." He chimed, then shut his eyes to fall asleep. He always liked the little phrases he said and thought of at the top of his head. They just flowed out so nicely.

He rested his head on top of Nichole's taking in her warmth, before he himself went to sleep.


	7. The Makeup Artist

**Chapter 7**

A tiny speckle of sun rays hit her eyes as she sat up. She looked around at the empty room, then to her hands which were not handcuffed surprisingly. All the events of last night came tumbling into her head. Her whole body went tense as she pictured last night, being in the same bed as the Joker; Snuggled up against him, and although it was not as uncomfortable as she would have thought, she hated it.

She wished she wasn't still in his room.

She still thought in the back of her mind that one of these days she would wake up and see it was all a dream.

She peered over at the bathroom door and saw it was shut and a line of light was pouring out of the bottom of the door suggesting the Joker was currently in there.

_I'm going to freaking kill you._ She thought as she saw shadows under the door.

She rubbed her eyes, and examined her leg which was still in a lot of pain. The cut from yesterday had dry blood staining the whole back of her upper leg. She could see the cut due to the fact her jeans were ripped in that spot from when the wood entered her. The gash looked unhealthy and evil in her eyes, and the more she stared at it the more she felt her heart sink.

Nichole had a dreamless sleep.

This was very rare for her.

She figured all the fear and exhaustion made her mind shut down and take a break. But this was a very good thing, for if she did have a dream it would have been a nightmare, which would have caused her to spring up in her sleep fearfully. She would hate to have to explain to the Joker what she was doing, as he would take it as an opurtunity to mess with her more than he already had.

Even at that he would most likely grow angry from being disturbed.

She heard a sound a realized the bathroom door opened, causing Nichole to jump in her spot. He stood there leaning in the threshold of the door, arms crossed grinning. His makeup was still off, but his whole outfit and his hair was in his Joker costume. "Well, well, well someone likes to sleep in late_-tah."_

_He talks so odd!_ Nichole thought absently.

"What time is it?" She asked. She surprised herself that she could actually speak a complete sentence to the Joker without stuttering or breathing heavily. She guessed it was the fact she was always a little out of it in the mornings.

She really hadn't meant to ask the time. It was just the first thing that popped into her head that wasn't going to be something she would say to cause him to smack her.

He checked his watch less wrist. "Time to uh get up..." He walked over grabbing her arm forcefully and yanked her upward so she stood up. As she put her weight on her left leg she felt a searing pain go through her. She tried to walk forward, but fell forward, almost crashing into the ground when an arm came around her waist and brought her back up.

The Joker laughed standing her up straight again, then placed his hand on his chin. "I know you falling for me _bea-uuuuu-tiful_ but..." He grinned, then sighed. "You break waaay to easily."

She limped backwards.

She may have gotten used to his look and many things he says, but she was not used to being so close to him. She has a personal bubble, and he has invaded it one too many times. The complete aura he gave off frightened her and the smell he gave off was enough to clog her nose. It was as if he never showered and rolled around in mud all the time.

He licked his as he took a step forward. "You know...you are uh fascinating when you sleep. The things you talk about in your sleep. Very... _in-ter-rest-ting_ indeed."

_Oh god! I didn't have a dreamless sleep! Fuck! _She panicked.

Nichole choked on her breath. As a little girl she had always talked in her sleep, mainly whatever she dreamed about would be the things she talked about. One time she even woke up her mother and father, when she was screaming about mutant frogs coming to eat her. She thought she had outgrown that habit, but if the Joker was mentioning it now, she knew he was not lying.

He walked behind her and sat in his desk chair turning it so it faced Nichole. "You mentioned...my name a few times." Her cheeks began to stain red.

_Oh great he's feeling cocky since I said his name in my sleep! I am so lucky though I did not remember whatever i was dreaming. It must have been a nightmare._ Nichole thought.

"So what were you dreaming about? Little ole me? I feel honored. You kept saying my name-" He changed his tone of voice and mimicked Nichole's voice. "Joker! Joker! _Joooo-ker_" His eyes grew intense, his voice returning to its old creepy tone. "I thought you were awake, wanting something from me. But I looked down and saw you shaking and whimpering. It was hilarious. I'm surprised I didn't wake you with my laughter."

He swayed back in forth in the chair he sat on before, he chuckled spreading his arms out wanting Nichole to come and sit on his lap. She shook her head, utterly refusing to give him what he wanted. If she sat on his lap, he would have complete control over her.

Not that he already did though.

His face twisted into a glare as he reached into his pocket slowly lingering to see if Nichole would get the message across. He didn't even have time to pull out his steel little friend before Nichole half ran to the Joker in his chair and sat down on his lap.

He patted her head. "Wise choice."

He took hold of her legs roughly and shifted her body so she was laying across him; her legs dangling off to one side of him. He made her sit up straight on him, one hand on her upper thigh, with his knife in that hand (the tip of the blade pressing into her leg) and his other arm wrapped around her back with his hand placed on her shoulder pressing her against him tightly.

She felt very awkward and nervous to be this close to him yet again. Her widened eyes stared into his two dark orbs.

_Please...Lord protect me. _She pleaded in her mind.

He grinned at her. "Care to put on my makeup for me?" He pointed to the desk next to them. Three containers laid on it, each containing red, white and black.

_OH HELL NO!_

She didn't want to be on his lap right now. She didn't want to be breathing the air as him. _And she certainly_ did not want to be touching his face. Removing his makeup was easy, a towel seperated her fingers from his skin, but applying makeup requires a lot of touching. Something the Joker knew would make Nichole be frightened.

Nichole was also still in shock from last night's ordeal. The Joker kissing her was the straw that broke the camel's back, and now she was absolutely fearful of him and everything he did. Even if he made a simple movement, it would cause her to jump fearing he'd slap her or worse..._touch_ her again.

Never in her life did she feel more appalled.

At this point she noticed the only thing missing in his outfit, besides his makeup of course, was his gloves.

She sighed seeing no point in making him mad by saying no, and reached over taking the three containers and placing them on her lap. She turned her upper torso towards him, so she could reach the Joker's face without difficulty. He was smiling, enjoying this all the way. The look in her eyes, the scared out of her mind and yet the wanting to be brave and stay strong; it made him laugh on the inside.

She opened one of the containers.

Black.

Starting with the eyes she guessed.

She rubbed two of her fingers into the black mixture and then looked up at him. She was going to cover up the human in him.

She bit her lip.

_Stop shaking Nichole stop!_ She told herself. _Be strong!_

He winked and closed his eyes as she rubbed the black on his eyelids and under his eyes. She noticed how warm his face was and how smooth his skin was. Maybe he did take showers? She finished making his black circles and rubbed the extra black on her fingers on her pant leg. Paint smears on her pants did not matter at this point.

Blood was soaking them already.

It held white. She used all four fingers for this one. She spread the white on his face, trying to get it done and over with quickly so she could get away from him. She wondered how the Joker looks when he applys his makeup. Fearing she was doing it wrong, she slowed her pace down a tad trying to make it look perfect in her eyes.

The snow white mixture covered half his face before he opened his eyes once more. The black makeup by his eyes did make him look more intense and dangerous.

"Having fun?" He licked his lips. Clearly _he _was having fun.

"...Am I doing it right?" She asked. "I mean what if I don't make it exactly right?"

He rolled his eyes. "Do I look like I care?" He asked irritation starting to rise in his voice.

"Well I just. Don't want you to go look in the mirror and hate what you see. And have to do it over." She explained, her voice shaky-ish as she finished all the white on his face. Her face blushed scarlet after she finished her sentence, feeling as if she sounded very stupid to him.

"It be pretty hard to hate what I see in the mirror. I mean look at me!" He laughed, slicking back his hair with one hand licking his lips. Nichole moved on to the final container, holding the red makeup. The one she was dreading. She would have to touch his scars again. Last time she did yesterday, she was in a daze and completely overtaken by them.

She unscrewed the red container's cap and put only one finger in it. She looked up at him. He was smirking the widest she ever saw. She slowly raised her hand up inches from his lips.

"Go on. I uh won't bite......This time_-mah_." He whispered excitingly.

She pressed her finger lightly into his lip and spread the red across his upper and bottom lip. As she got more red paint she heard him smack his lips together. She reached up and now ran her finger across his scar. She didn't know what came over her, but she became lost in his scars.

They told a story. A scary one at that. They were so uneven.

So ugly.

So rigid.

So gruesome.

And yet they completed him. His scars would haunt her mind forever, as they were the thing about him that stuck out the most. Whenever she would think of him, the first thing that would come to mind were his scars. Then his eyes, as they were the second most scary thing about him.

She darted her finger over to the other scar. She could see they lifted up slightly, meaning the Joker was smiling. He was watching her eyes. He could tell she was intrigued by his scars. For those few moments she forgot where she was and who she was touching. All her focus was on his scars. She wondered if she was the only person to ever to touch his scars like this and still be alive to tell the tale. The scars frightened her and she caught her breath as she looked at them. She then wiped her finger on her pant leg and ran her eyes over her paint job. She did a pretty nice job in her eyes. His white makeup was a bit uneven toned, here and there it was more blotchy, but it didn't matter.

She leaned over and placed the containers over on the desk, before sitting up straight again in his lap.

"Your all set." She said, finally taking a breath in as she had been holding it the entire time fearing he would laugh at how nervous she was.

He picked up something off the desk, she realized it was a mirror. He put a hand to his cheek tilting his head side to side criticizing her work. He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth.

"Not a bad job. But unfortunately, it looks to..." He looked at the ceiling searching for the right word. "Neat. It looks too well done. I need to fix it."

She rubbed her fingers together, staring down at them to avoid eye contact with him. "Sorry."

He grinned. "Oh don't be...because the_ prob-bo-lem _can be fixed...soooo...easily."

She looked up at him, about to ask what he meant, when he leaned in and kissed her on the lips lightly, then began to pick up with some force. He bit down on her lip slightly, taking in her flavor. Nichole squirmed uncomfortable in his lap wanting him to stop.

She suddenly felt the hand that was originally on her leg move upwards and land on her left breast.

He squeezed down, and she let out a scream in his mouth.

_He's going further than yesterday! Oh fuck!_

The Joker sucked on her bottom lip, nibbling it, until at last he shoved his tongue down her throat and Nichole's body froze in place. Her heart stopped and then picked up double time as his hand slid down her body till it was on her jean's button trying to get it undone.

The Joker didn't know what came over him. He was going to wait to do all this later, after all he had to meet with the mob in a half hour. He doesn't have time to do the complete "job" on Nichole at this moment and he doesn't want to jeopardize his whole plan for some stupid woman, that he just wants to mess with for a short time then dispose of. But he guessed he could at least try her out a little bit, before his meeting. He just has to try and control himself and not let things get too far out of hand.

He finally was able to get it undone and then unzipped her pant as well, his fingers began to snake downwards into her pants and she felt his fingertips start to lift her undergarments so he could shove his whole hand under them.

It was at that moment, her mind turned back on. She let out a scream, it was muffled from his tongue being shoved into her mouth, but never the less it could still be heard. She was about to thrash her arms at his face, until she felt the oh too familiar steel blade being pressed into her neck, by the arm that was wrapped around her back and pressed her into him.

He leaned back for a second. "Stop screaming. Your just wasting your _voice-sah_." He hissed into her ear.

She felt his hand graze over her womenhood as he kissed at her ear, placing his tongue around it, making his way back to her neck. Her heart felt like it was about to beat out of her chest; her face blushing.

She had never been touched in such a volient and unwanted manner like this and she didn't like it at all.

The Joker then took his pointer finger and attempted to insert inside of her, but she quickly moved her hips away, causing his hand to shake.

He sighed and brought his mouth to her ear once more. "Are we going to have to do this the hard way or the easy way? It is your choice." He pressed the knife into the side of her neck, near the bite he had created last night.

Her screams were in her throat, but were heard clearly and echoed in the room.

He was able to then finally take his finger and jammed it inside of her twirling it around roughly.

Her whole body tensed and felt as if it was being torn into two pieces. She let out a gasp, as she went into a state of shock. While she did this he continued to work his finger in and out of her with viscious wicked ways. Her dry insides were burning against the skin of his single finger tearing and intruding upon her most sensative spot.

Just as she thought things could not get any more painful or worse, he then pulled it out entering a second finger at the same time.

She screamed loudly as he began to move them in and out in a faster motion than before. He put his mouth by her ear and breathed heavily into it, causing a chill to run up her spine. He bit at her ear harshly, giving no mercy.

The thing that hurt her the worst about this whole ordeal was his sharp, long, fingernails.

They were so sharp it felt like he was cutting up her inside.

As his fingers slide back and forth more quickly, the blade pressed on her neck grew more and more tighter. The Joker was tensed up, like he was holding back.

He really was.

Here Nichole was on his lap, she's not in a comfortable position, he's not in a comfortable position. He wanted to go on the bed, but whatever self control he had left kept him glued to the chair, and his pants on.

She felt the knife cutting into her neck slightly as he moaned in her ear, only making her scream louder. She shut her eyes tightly as the knife was placed inside her mouth.

"I said stop screaming!"The Joker yelled angrily.

She was hyperventilating and did not cease her screams, untill she felt the blade cutting the tip of her tongue and cheek.

She tasted her own blood.

The taste of copper.

_Disgusting._

Her mind was racing pleading with her to get him off of her, while the other side of her mind told her to sit still and deal with the pain; knowing he had to be finished soon.

The Joker was now trying to squeeze a third finger into her. It felt like he was trying to make her opening rip. She let out another scream, but regretted it once again. The knife in her mouth tore at her gum and tongue. Blood began to gush out of her mouth and down her chin, some landing on the Joker's arm, but he really could have cared less.

He quickened his pace, wanting this act to be over soon for his self control was teetering and since he had places to be. He had to stop himself. He couldn't fully do what he wanted, even in this small act.

If he had more time, he would have prolonged it and made it more intense.

But for now, quick and fast was his method.

He put his mouth by her ear saying in a slight soft but angry voice. "I told you. You need to listen when I say to shush. Are we having trust issues now? I thought we established when I say something you are to do it!"

She tried to stare up at the cieling to get her mind off the pain and the increasing urge to vent her pain through her vocal chords. She felt like rope burn was inside of her; friction never ceasing.

He took out all three fingers pulling his hand out of her pants, and examining it. It held a white juicy substance on it along with blood.

Nichole felt a lot of pain down below, and seeing the blood only conformed her thought of him tearing her insides up. She felt blood seeping through her and now heading to leak through her pants.

He grinned looking down at his prize on his fingers and then wipped it on Nichole's pants slowly. The way he did so was as if he was making his fingers dance along her leg.

He laughed, standing up in his chair, causing Nichole to go crashing to the ground unexpectedly.

He looked down at her faking a cry. "Awh did someone fall and go...BOOM." He mimicked an explosion. He laughed and then sighed. "Well I have to go and uh meet with a few 'friends' " He made quotation marks in the air. "But don't worry." He kneeled down by her, taking her face into his hands. Tears of pain and embarrassment streamed down her face. She noticed from what just happened his makeup was messier and smudged. Just the way he _wanted_ it.

"I'll be back in a few...hours." He poked her nose before standing up again and heading to the door. He opened it and turned around to look at Nichole once more.

"Ooo hoo hoo the way you look right now. It's just like candy. I'm tempted to bite into it, but-" He sighed. "You're too big of a candy to handle right uh, now." He giggled slamming the door shut. She heard him lock it.

_Too big to handle right now? Was that a crack at my weight? I am not...not fat?_ She thought._ Too big to handle...Oh! I get it! Too big to handle meaning I will fight back and it takes a lot out of him to beat me into a pulp when I fight back, but he likes it that way. And since he has to go he doesn't have time to handle me....If he didn't have his fucking knife I would claw his eyes out!_

She smiled figuring out his little saying, only to frown at what it meant. She sniffled a bit wiping her eyes, which were all red and blotchy from how hard she was crying.

_And why does he keep comparing me to candy?_ She thought.

She crawled over to the egde of the bed grabbing the pillow off of it and taking it in her hands. She placed the pillow in her face and let out a muffled scream. A scream of sadness. Anger. Embarrassment. Shock. Pain. She hated that man with all her might. She swore to herself she would kill him one day. One day soon.

Her screams did nothing but take out all the pent up fustration and release it upon the innocent pillow. She then realized the Joker had slept with this pillow by her head and flung it across the room at the wall.

"WHAT THE FUCK!!!!!!!!!" She screamed in rage.

The Joker grinned keeping his ear to the door, hearing her scream. Causing pain to her and getting pleasure to himself. Can we call this a win, win situation for him? He looked at his blood stained knife grinning, clicking it shut as he walked down the hallway, wondering what his little Nikki would do for the few hours he was going to leave her alone.

Escape was impossible. And even if she did escape, he had a plan up his sleeve...

...and dangerous one.


	8. A Chance Taken

**Chapter 8**

After screaming out a few more curse words and hate for the Joker to herself, Nichole crawled her way into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her, with her foot.

She needed to stop all the blood leaking out of her, in her various cuts. She didn't want to end up bleeding to death because she decided to curl up into a ball and cry.

_No I have to be strong and try and survive this situation, rather then just pity myself._ She tried to motivate herself.

She used the counter to stand herself up slowly to look at the damage. She had to rest her weight on one leg, due to the other in pain from the wood impaling it.

Her neck was filled with cuts, bruises, bite marks, and hickeys. Her arms had minor cuts and splinters from the chair breaking yesterday. Her leg had that one large cut on it. Her sensative area had stopped bleeding at that point, thank god. She wouldn't know how to cure it.

The back of her neck was healing, but there was something strange to her about that cut.

The odd square shaped lump in the back.

She drew up her hair in one hand and began to pick at her cut. The cut opened and blood began to rain down on her fingers, but she didn't care. There was a square inside her that needed to come up. She picked and picked at her wound making it larger until her fingers felt a strange metal object. She pulled out of her neck with a small yelp, a square device.

She examined the blood stained square metal object.

It looked like one of those chips you placed in an animal to track where they are...

_So **this **is how he found me. That son of a bitch planted a bug in me. Damn it!_

She took the square and chucked it into the toilet and flushed it. She watched it circle around a few times till it lost the battle and went down the pipe.

_Sucess. You fucking asshole! Try to find me now when I escape now!_

She smiled putting a hand to the back of her neck to stop all the blood. She had just saved herself. If she was going to escape again. Which she planned on doing, she would at least now be able to hide somewhere safe, without the Joker knowing where she was.

If she were to escape, she would run as fast as she could to Tom's house and stay hidden there untill the Joker was caught or enough time passed by that he would have forgotten about her.

The disgust in her stomach remained, but it hit here right there and then. She empitied her stomach into the toliet, feeling so appalled at what the Joker did to her.

He had groped her like an animal.

As if she was not even human to him, but an object.

She still could feel his fingers inside of her tearing up her very being and crumbling the walls she had saftly built around her to live out her life with pride.

She rested her head against the side of the toliet for some time, not feeling strong enough to move.

Evetually, she was able to get up after one more round of vomit and turned the sink on running her hand under the water and bringing the water up to the back of her neck to wash it. She did the same thing with her leg's cuts, her arm's cuts and then she moved to her mouth. She just stuck her head under the water, mouth open, and gathered enough water in her mouth to swish it around.

The mixture of blood and water tasted like pennies and...well...water.

She spit the water out peering at her tongue. A straight slit was across it near the tip, and the roof of her mouth had a gash in it.

_I doubt the Joker would have anything that could help my wounds. He doesn't seem like a "first aid" kinda guy._ She sighed, looking around the very dirty bathroom.

Looking over at the shower, _I can wait for a shower... _She thought looking at all the dirt marks in it and the clump of hair clogging the drain pipe.

She ripped pieces of cloth off of her shirt towards the bottom and wrapped it around her leg wound. That one started to bleed yet again and needed to be stopped.

She went back into the bedroom feeling quite better now all her cuts had been cleaned off, and her insides had stopped bleeding. But her jeans and shirt were ruined. Covered in blood and dirt and makeup, with tear marks on them.

She didn't mind or feel saddened that they were wrecked, but held fear as to what would happen if the Joker wrecked them to the point of they would no longer be able to stay on her body.

She walked over to the desk in his room, pushing aside the chair, wincing when touching the chair, as the image of what the Joker had just done to her a half hour ago popped into her head. She was disgusted, but she didn't know who to be more disgusted him or herself for _letting_ that happen.

_Well really what could I have done to stop him? I had a knife in my neck, and then later my mouth! If I had started throwing punches at him, he'd kill me and continue what he was doing with my dead body. The sicko! _She thought to herself, trying to assure herself she did all she could to stop him.

Her heart rate was going back down to normal, but she had to distract her mind. She was starting to do a ton of "What if..." questions.

And also she was worrying about the future.

Tonight preferable.

_When the Joker comes back what is he going to do to me?_

He made it clear today he likes a little sexual intercourse. But that doesn't mean he _likes_ Nichole. He just likes the fact he can fuck with her. If anything he were to like, would be her uses. Making him laugh by hurting her physically, toying with her mentally, and sex.

_Sex, sex sex sex sex._ That was the word running through her mind a million miles a minute.

She wanted, no needed to distract herself, so she decided to snoop around the Joker's desk. Surely she could keep her mind off the future, by looking through the mess on his desk. She scanned the desk top. Pictures, papers, pens, the makeup containers, a few paper clips, an audio tape recorder, and newspaper clippings.

She picked up the pictures and newspaper clippings. Most of them were of Batman, people of Gotham's police department, and many stories of crimes the Joker committed. Her eyes widened as she came across a newspaper clipping from two days ago and read it in her mind.

_"Joker CRASHES Party"_

_"Yesterday, Bruce Wayne hosted a fund raiser for Gotham's own DA Harvey Dent, an unexpected guest showed up and he was not on the list. The Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker came in with a bang! _

_Threatening to kill everyone at the party. His main objective there was to kill our Harvey Dent, but Dent was not found at the time the Joker came to the party. The Batman came to the rescue at the party, but the Joker grabbed Dent's current girlfriend Rachel Dawes and threw her out the window. Batman jumped after her and saved the day. _

_Dent released this statement. "My trust in Batman has only gotten higher. I thank him with all my heart for saving Rachel. I don't know even want to think about what would have happened, had Batman not showed up. At this time I want to do everything in my power to get The Joker behind bars and off ours streets. He is our number one target as of now. I warn you all he is dangerous and if you see him even three blocks down, run away and lock your doors."_

_After The Joker threw Rachel out the window, he grabbed a women, whose name has not been released at this time, and used her as a human shield to escape the party. He then was reported to have dragged the women into his van. It is assumed this women is now dead, but police have tiny bit of hope she may be alive."_

She blinked putting the paper back down.

_They all assumed I was dead. Well, I guess I should be thankful I am not dead. After all the Joker is the most dangerous criminal out there at the moment. I should be thankful he found me attractive sexually...But yet i hate it. Maybe he should have just killed me. Be better then this. All this pain. One quick painless death. But he never does slow deaths...Knifes are not slow at all...Ugh I hate this! _She placed a hand on her forehead wiping the sweat off of it, and then wiping her hand on her pant leg.

"I'm going to freaking kill you! I'm going to fucking murder you!" She screamed. Her anger needed to be let out.

She had never felt this much anger.

This much loss.

He had taken away her students, her dog, and threatened Tom's life.

If she ran away he might kill him.

_Well....Now that the tracking device is out of me. He can't follow me. He won't find me when I escape! Perfect!_

For about another hour she paced back and forth in the room. Peering out of the spaces in the boarded up windows, sitting on the bed, going back to the bathroom to check how her cuts were doing. All blood exiting her body had stopped. Thank the lord.

Though whenever she thought or had the sudden feeling of the Joker's hands on her body, she quickly went into the bathroom since she had the urge to throw up.

She was standing tracing the lines in the wall, when she heard footsteps and someone approach the door, the sound of keys jingling could be heard.

The Joker was back.

She dashed towards the bed and sat on the edge, placing her hands on her lap, staring off into space, acting like she has just been doing nothing all day but sitting around and not snooping around his room.

She heard the door open and looked up without thinking.

Her mouth, hang open so wide she thought her jaw might break off. It took everything in her power not to laugh, but the inital shock forced her laugh far down her throat.

The Joker stood there.

In a nurse outfit.

Pink lace trimmed the edges, his makeup still on and on his head lay a red short wig. She blinked.

Well the dress did suit him in an odd way.

He kept a serious face on as if his attire was not odd in any fashion or manner, keeping the door open behind him as he walked over to Nichole.

"Miss me?" He smacked his lips together. He grabbed her arm and pulled her forward and out of the room.

They were heading down the stairs as Nichole found her voice. "Where are we going?"

Out of all the things she pictured the Joker doing, wearing a dress was definitely not on her list. The Joker just ignored her and yanked her by her wrist hard to make her speed up her walk. The bruise on her wrist that already was there felt as if the blood underneath her skin was going to burst out from her pores.

He lead her outside and into a van throwing her into the back seat, then sitting next to her. This felt just like the first night she met him, being shoved into the van at gun point. Well this time he just shoved her, no gun, but in a dress. The only reason she wasn't fussing is she was sure in one of his little pockets was a knife.

The van started to drive and the Joker said no more to Nichole nor did he even look like he was currently interested in her.

_How his moods change._ She sighed. _If they change this much I'll never be able to figure out what sets him off and what doesn't._

The van drove a few blocks until it was at Gotham General Hospital. They parked around the back. All of the men getting out except the Joker, who was looking at Nichole for the first time since yanking her out of his room.

He reached in the seat behind him pulling forward a green scrub outfit. He rushed putting it on, then putting a white surgical mask around his face.

Nichole was so confused, but she hoped he wasn't making some sick joke and going to be her "doctor". She felt sweat start to form on the back of her neck, but was relieved when he opened the door and got out, Nichole following behind him. He wouldn't do anything to her in a public hospital.

Nichole raised an eyebrow getting a better look at the hospital scene. Police cars and fire trucks were everywhere. It appeared they were evacuating the entire hospital and loading all the patients and doctors into yellow school buses.

All the men, and The Joker, with Nichole following closely behind headed to a school bus that was empty. No one was being loaded into yet. The Joker glanced around standing on the side of the bus, before withdrawing a knife a placing it at Nichole's throat as a warning sign.

She winced as he placed it directly into the knife cut he made on her throat earlier. He backed her up onto the side of the bus, leaning all his weight into her, crushing her rip cage, making it rather hard to breath. She gasped trying to get some air to her lungs, but stopped trying when she made eye contact with him and his devilish eyes.

"Now I'm going to go inside this _uh_ hospital...and pay a little vist_-tah_...to Gotham's DA. While I'm in there. You stay on this bus." He pointed to the bus behind her. "And be a good little woman. If you try anything...you will regret it-_tah."_ He licked his lips, pointing at her, taking the knife off of her. She could have easily screamed right now to get a police officers attention. But she figured by the time they came over to her she'd be dead.

His threat was the most terifying he had ever said to her, just by the tone of his voice. He could change his voice in almost an instance so it sounded almost unnatural.

The Joker glanced to his left giving one of his men a nod then headed straight towards the hospital's main entrance, and no one gave him a look. With all the hussle and bussle of getting everyone out of the hospital, no one would notice a person with unusual white skin. If he hadn't had the face mask on though people would notice.

His scars kinda stand out.

She felt someone grabbing her shoulder. She looked up to see the Joker's men shoving her into the bus. They pushed her into the seat in the way back. There were a total of three men. One sitting in the drivers seat, one in a front seat and one in the back seat across from Nichole.

She sat there for about ten minutes, staring out her window at all the police and fire department people. She was **this** close to freedom, this close to people that could help her escape, and she couldn't do anything, without ending up dead.

She looked up and noticed hospital patiences and doctors were being boarded onto the bus with her. Normal citizens.

_The poor things have no idea they got on the wrong bus._

They didn't notice her small crying figure sitting in the back, the doctors busy helping the patiences get comfortable and settled. Some getting medication, others getting their oxygen tanks readjusted.

After a few minutes, a sudden explosion made Nichole jump. She looked out her window as the hospital was being blown up on one side only. The man that was sitting in the back across from her dashed up and headed to the front of the bus peering out the window.

"Whoa look at that!" he cheered, excitedly.

She got a sudden idea.

She looked at the emergency exit that was two feet behind her, and then to the Joker's men who were admiring the explosion. Her heart beat double time and the sweat that was on the back of her neck had moved to her forehead.

She knew this was risky but...

She jumped into the bus aisle and threw the emergency exit door, hopping out of the bus. A searing pain crossing through her body as she had put a lot of weight into her hurt leg.

She didn't care.

Pain was nothing.

She just had to get away. She ran as fast as she could away from the hospital. The intense desire to escape from the Joker fueled her energy. She felt her legs move as she told them to and they picked up a speed she did not think would be possible with her state of physical wellness.

She could hear an another explosion behind her. Curiosity got her and she turned around to see the whole building erupting into flames, and she could faintly see the Joker climbing into the bus she had escaped from.

_Boy was he going to be pissed off._

She didn't care. She hoped he grew pissed.

She ran more, eventually after two minutes she went into a fast walk rather then a sprint.

The pain in her leg started to come back and she knew she was on the verge of falling over.

She saw a familiar house and walked up the front steps of it. She knocked twice, tears forming in her eyes as the door opened.

"Tom..." she cried falling forward into him. He caught her and brought her into a hug.

"Wha- Nichole!" He held her tightly against him as he lead her inside his house.

* * *

The Joker sat in the back of the bus very confused. He thought his men were going to place Nichole in the back seat, but maybe they just had her up front with them. It didn't matter. He had just corrupted Gotham's white knight, and blew up a hospital AND had hostages. Everything was going to plan.

The bus stopped the Joker's men slowly getting everyone off an into the tall building that was downtown. His plan was going to happen. The doctors and patiences were to switch clothes with his men. His men would look like the hostages, and not be harmed. The innocent were going to die. Batman would show up. Oh it was too much.

He laughed as he got off the bus. He stopped one of his men as the entered the building.

"Where's my little Nichole? She has a part to play in this plan. Her long awaited death comes today. " He licked his lips grinning.

The man's eyes widened as the sweat dripped off his forehead. "Um...boss about that."

The Joker swallowed. "What...happened..." He asked calmly, holding in his anger.

"Well...she got away...she escaped. I went up front to watch the explosion and..." But the man didn't get to finish his sentence. The Joker took out his knife and lodged it into the man's neck. Blood spattered up and hit the Joker in the face. The man chocking on his own blood falling to the ground dead. The Joker reached down pulling out his knife.

The Joker motioned one of his other men to come to him. Another man came hesitantly. The Joker placed a hand on his shoulder. "In order to get my little uh trouble maker back-kah...i need you to do something for me...I want you to find everything you know about a man named..." He pulled out a small newspaper clipping that was in his pocket and read "Tom Richards."

It was time to show Nichole to cause and effect of her escaping once more when he was not done with her.

He already told himself he was going to finish what he started...

And he was a man of his word....

She had escaped yet again another death by him. It was as if luck was on her side, and prevented each time he was about to kill her.

But he knew her luck was going to run out soon.


	9. Tom

**Kait: **On reEditting this chapter I made Tom and Nichole share more.....talking time/fluff and all that jazz. it's a MAJOR ending change

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Tom backed up until he was in the living room, his arm wrapped around Nichole's back holding her to him. She was on the point of passing out on him. He placed her gently on the couch, sitting beside her. Nichole leaned back on the soft seat, her tears blurring her vision. Tears of joy and worry.

The joy of being free.

The worry of being caught.

She tilted her body leaning her side on Tom, wrapping her arms across his chest and back, holding him tightly to her. She was not going to let go of him, not when he was there. Not when she finally could see him again. Again it felt as if everything around her and all that had happened was a dream. Nothing seemed real anymore.

But Tom felt real. She could feel his warmth against her body and hear his uneven breathing.

"Nichole...What happened to you?" Tom said almost yelling in disbelief she was alive and in his arms. He could see from her neck had cuts on it as well as her arms and legs. Blood stain were scattered about everywhere on her. The bruises lining her neck, face, and arms caused him to momentarily look away and gag in disgust thinking about who inflicted them.

He held her tightly to him, biting the inside of his mouth to keep himself calm. "Nichole!?" He said again when she did not answer him right away.

Nichole sat there gasping for breath. She didn't know why she was so tired. From the running to his house? From the relief of being at his house safe? Or from the worrying of what might happen to her? She couldn't put her finger on it, though guessed all the above. She tightened her hold around him; her fingers enclosing around his shirt's matrial around his sides. His shirt became wet from the tears pouring out of her eyes.

"Tom...I ran away...from h-him. I e-s-sscaped. I'm not safe...he's g-g-going to f-find me, I k-k-know it. He'll find me and kill me." She sobbed. Tom hugged her tighter, placing his chin on her shoulder speaking softly into her ear in a soothing manner.

"Its alright. Your safe now Nichole. Nothing is going to harm you. Not now. Not while I'm around. Nothing is going to get you. I won't let him."

Nichole knew he meant it, but she also knew the Joker would burn down every house in Gotham to find her.

Her mind raced, looking for an answer. _And why is that? Just to screw with me? Why did he find such an interest in me? Why? Maybe...he would forget about me. Maybe he would get tired of me running away and him having to come get me and move on to some other woman. After all there were millions in the city. I'm not that special. I acted like a normal person in his company. Scared out of my mind! Resisting what he wanted, but having to give in after a knife placed by by throat. He had said I was different. But I don't see how. _

Her innocence was maybe what drew him to her. How he could change an innocent normal person into a paranoid shaken girl. Maybe that's what he meant.

Or he just wanted to finish what he started.....

Tom hugged her even tighter for a moment. "Hang on Nichole." He said "I'm going to get you something to drink okay?" She nodded her head to show she had heard what he said.

Tom kissed the top of her head and got up slowly, leaving one hand to linger on her shoulder briefly. A few seconds later he came back into the room holding a glass of water in his hand and giving it to Nichole. He knelt in front of her, resting a hand on her leg.

She took it smiling. "Thank you Tom." She chugged the water down. It felt amazing as the cool ice water roamed slowly down her throat. It made her hot exhausted body relax just a little. She needed it. She placed the empty glass on the coffee table in front of the place she was seated.

"Look. I know you probably do not want to go into detail of what happened to you..." He said returning to sit next to her and rubbing Nichole's back.

She was thankful to hear that; she really didn't want to go into detail of what happened to her. She didn't know how Tom would react to her saying the Joker assulted her sexually. She would probably leave that part out.

"But...you are going to have to talk with the police. Gordon. You remember him? I kept calling him, asking him everyday what they knew. But..." Tom's eyes were holding in tears at this point. "I'm sorry..Nichole i just thought...I thought-" He couldn't finish his setence.

"I know...I thought that too." Her face broke as she burst into tears. "I thought I'd never see you again. I kept thinking of you and all my friends that live out of this cursed town. But mostly...I thought of you. I couldn't bear the thought of not seeing you again Tom. You're my best friend. Many times i just felt like i wanted to give up. I wanted to let the Joker kill me....But I had to survive. I had to...I couldn't lose you. He kept threatening to kill you if I left!"

Tom kissed her forehead. "Nichole you haven't lost me. I'm here. I'm here baby. I'm here. And I'm not going to leave you. And no one is coming to get you."

Nichole slide over and sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Tom..." She cried into his neck. "I can't believe this happened to me...I just can't....That man. That fucking man. He-....He fucking touched me. He laid a hand on me. He looked at me. He has been so close that his very breath has touched my skin."

Again...She wanted to leave out the full details. She didn't know how Tom would react, and she herself was embarrassed by it. She felt like he'd look at her differently if she told him the whole story. She was ashamed and knew she shouldn't be since it wasn't her fault, but now she realized it was one of those common feelings a person would get after that experiance. Blaming it on themselves. But still she could not bring herself to tell him. She was embarrassed and knew he'd react in a fit of rage.

"He killed Atticus....He killed my students....He wanted to kill you Tom." She sniffled. His neck felt warm against her numb cold skin. She wanted to stay in his arms forever; locked with her arms around him and his around hers. He rubbed her back softly still, not caring about all the blood he was getting on his fingers.

"Don't think about...Not now...Just think about how you are free. You're safe. Think about that." Tom said calmly into her ear.

"I think...I love you." Nichole mumbled into his neck.

"What Nichole?" Tom asked gently, as he could not hear what she had said.

"Nothing...I'm just glad to be with you right now." She lied, sniffling. She wanted to tell him she loved him. She truthfully did. But thoughts of love pained her right now. Everything she loved at one point had been taken from her. Her mother. And now her dog and students. And....part of her sanity. She sighed on the inside knowing she would most likely have to take coping classes.

He looked her over once more. "You look like you need a nice warm shower and some clean clothing. If I get you all settled, would you mind if I went down the street to the clothing store and got you a new outfit? For now you can wear something of mine." He stroked her head.

She thought for a moment, clinging to Tom's chest.

_Would I be alright by myself for a few hours? I think...I think I can do it, so long as I know the doors are locked and...And i have a knife with me. _She told herself.

"Yes...I'll be fine." She smiled at him, drawing away from her tight hold. "I just....want to make sure you will be careful out there too okay?"

"Ok then. And don't worry about me. I will be fine." He returned the smile, standing up, keeping her in his arms.

He lead her down the hallway to a nice clean bathroom; Nichole now clinging to his neck to avoid falling off, but she knew his grip on her was strong. She looked over the bathroom she had been so familar with. Tom's house was like her second home. She would often spend the night and hang out with him. They had movie nights even and watched movie after movie untill they both fell asleep cuddling each other. Nichole of course would have butterflies in her stomach the entire time. She yerned for them to be more than friends.

They certainly at times acted like it.

Everyone in her college strongly believed that Tom and Nichole would be a couple at one point. Nichole's friends would always bug her about it, and Nichole could just tell by the looks Tom's friends gave him when he and Nichole were around them, that they bugged him about it too. But she didn't know if he liked her like that. Maybe he viewed her more as a sister type person.

They cuddled and would flirt all the time with one another though. All the time. Even when she didn't realize it till later on in the day, she always would be flirting with him. They had gone to prom together in high school even. But that was just as friends. He had danced with other girls there. And was Nichole jealous of that? She most certainly was. But it was things like that, that lead her to believe that Tom just wanted to be friends with her.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Close friends though.

_Very_ close.

Even though he had admitted he loved her on the phone after the second day of being captured by the Joker, she questioned whether his admitting that was fake. Well, not fake as in he didn't mean it. She was sure he did, but maybe he meant it again...in a brother to sister way.

Hook ups did not happen between them though to set the record straight. That kiss he gave her on the lips down at the MCU when she was caged with the Joker, was the first kiss on the lips he had ever given her. Many times at parties or just anywhere he'd kiss her on the cheek or forehead, but never the lips. Well....she actually if she thought about it, may have kissed him on the lips in her college days when she was drunk or high at parties. She had been a party animal, she wasn't going to lie. No formal parties though. That's why she dispised that party a few days ago. Formal parties were hard to get into.

He stood in the doorway, setting her down gently. "I have first aid in the closet along with some shampoos, conditioners, and soap. Help yourself to anything...I promise I'll be back very shortly. And once I'm back if you wanna talk or just hang out. I'll be here all night."

He was about to turn and leave, when Nichole placed a hand on his shoulder.

She wanted to do something she had wanted to do all her life with Tom. She finally had the guts to do it. This would prove to her whether her _really_ loved her, or just loved her like a sister.

"Wait...Tom...I just want to say. Thank you. Thank you for all of this, and for this-" She leaned in a kissed him, on the lips. A simple peck, nothing fancy. She was proud of herself for even thinking of doing it, since the Joker had done all that with her. She swore as she leaned back she saw him blush. Her face must have been blushing too, because his crooked grin held extra meaning.

"Nichole I-....You're welcome." He said studdering. He smiled once more, the increasing red staining his face. He walked out of the bathroom shutting the door behind him slowly.

Nichole bit her lip as she sunk to the floor grinning. She could not believe she had just done that.

_It felt amazing, and his reaction! He must love me! He must! _Nichole brought her hands over her mouth as she blushed. _Nichole why couldn't you just tell him you loved him?! Ugh! Okay...When he comes back then...Just say it. Three simple words. I- Love- You...._She sighed aloud. _You are never going to be able to do it are you?_ She asked herself.

She stood back up and took a deep breath in.

Finally.

She could address her wounds and be cleaned. She wanted to get the feeling of the Joker off of her and she wanted to do it now!

She shed off her clothes immediately; Her jeans extra hard to get off. The blood had glued her jeans to her skin. A very painful thing to pull off as scabs reopened and new ones formed. She took the clothes placing them in the trash, vowing to never look at them again and then turned the shower water on.

She stepped in quickly. The warm water was first causing pain on all her wounds, but she became used to the feeling and actually started to enjoy the shower. She used the soap to scrub all the dried blood off her arms, legs, and neck. She reached for the shampoo and dumped a more then necessary amount on her head.

She felt disgusting. But she didn't know what she felt more disgusting from. The dirt and blood, or the fact the Joker had felt her up. But right now she wanted to take her mind off of the Joker.

Off of his twisted smile.

His two ridged scars...

His hideous makeup...

His cruel laugh.

She shook her head, scrubbing the shampoo in letting it sit on her hair, before going under the water and rinsing it all off. She hoped this would wash the feeling of his hands on her, off. But even then she could still sense and feel him on her. She could hear his breath in her ear and his laughter all around her even though she knew he was not with her.

She could still smell him, after scrubing herself everywhere with soap.

The air around her seemed to be more still and hazy than normal.

As the shampoo and water went down the drain, so did some blood that was pouring out of a newly opened wound on her head.

_Oh right_.

She had a cut on her head from when the Joker threw her across the room while she was sitting in that chair. It was one of the most painful things he had done to her besides-....

_God damn it, how many cuts do I have? That fucker!_

She stood in the shower for maybe fifteen more minutes. Just enjoying the warm water, but her mind was traveling to places it didn't want to be. All she could think about was him. Try as she might, she could not shake his image out of her mind. His eyes eating up her soul and heart. His breath melting her skin away.

_NO! Stop thinking about him!_ She screamed mentally at herself.

She pulled back the shower curtain, and grabbed a towel wrapping it around her. Time to patch up all her cuts.

She looked around in the closet till she found some wrap up bandages and some first aid cream. She examined the cut on the back of her leg. It was starting to heal, but had an odd yellow coloring to it. She guessed infection and cringed. She dumped some cream on it, then wrapped it up in the bandage. The cut feeling much better being covered in the cloth bandages.

The cuts on her arms, were no longer open cuts, just red skin showing where the cuts were. The redness would disappear by the next morning she'd bet. She dabbed some cream on her neck wound. The front one, from the knife being pressed numerous times to her neck, and the back wound where the Joker had placed his little tracking device in her, but thankfully and luckily she found it and had pulled it out this morning, were the next two cuts she dabbed cream on. Oh would the Joker be pissed when he found out she got rid of his tracking device.

_He treated me like a fucking animal._ She thought absently to herself.

She looked in the mirror satisfied with her patch up job. She grabbed Tom's brush and worked at her wet dripping hair. She decided to tie it up with a hair tye of hers that had been in Tom's bathroom. She had a makeup bag and some stuff in his bathroom, since she came over often. With her hair up and out of her face, she felt at last clean and ridden of the dried blood and dirt.

She only wished she could rid the feeling of his hands on her.

Nichole walked out of the bathroom wrapped in the towel. She was a little nervous on every corner she turned in Tom's house expecting the Joker to be standing there with a knife, but he wasn't.

She walked into the living room, slowly.

Tom sat on the couch watching television. He looked up as Nichole entered and smiled, before tensing in his seat.

"Uh...you don't wanna be watching this." He said as he reached for the remote to change the channel.

She stopped him with her words. "No no...its fine." She sat on the couch next to him, feeling slightly embarrassed to be in a towel and turned her gaze to the television. A news program was on. She scooted closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder, hoping he would not mind she would get his shoulder soaked with her hair.

"_And after the Joker blew up our hospital, a bus load of people fleeing the hospital are being reported missing. And now with this video tape the Joker sent in telling us citizens of Gotham to flee town, because this is quote on quote "his city" What are we to do? He has told us in the video tape that the bridges have "surprises" on them. Surprises for him could mean bombs, and so the police are blocking and searching for such devices. _

_I urge you all to remain calm and trust in our police forces to take down this criminal. Ferry boats are currently leaving Gotham as we speak. Go down to the docks if you want to leave. The boats will pick up and drop off in half hour intervals. People wishing to board them feel free." _

The television flashed a picture of the Joker. One from when he was brought to custody a day ago.

_"This man is now Gotham's most wanted. Batman...please save us. Please...stop this madman, before utter choas ensues. This is Nancy Williams. Goodnight and good luck Gotham." _The news women, had a tear in her eye. Nichole wondered if the Joker had taken someone from that newswomen.

Nichole sighed as the news program turned into a commercial.

Tom looked at her. "Nichole I have a few things for you. There in my guest bed room....Oh sorry I mean your room." He laughed, poking her nose. His spare bedroom was basically Nichole's second room away from home. She'd sleep in that room more often than her own room at home.

"If you don't mind Tom. I think I'm going to grab something to eat. And then go to bed." She glanced at the clock. It was only eight o'clock in the evening, but she was tired. Being kidnapped takes a lot outta a person.

"Would I mind? Nichole! Eat whatever you want! Honestly I don't care! If you don't like anything I have I could order delivery if you want."

"No no no. It's fine. I am actually not super hungry. I just want something simple." She said honestly. She didn't know if she could even hold food in her stomach.

He nodded understanding. "If you have trouble sleeping or want to talk. Please don't hesitate to wake me up, if I'm asleep."

"Thanks Tom..." She smiled, taking her head off his shoulder. She laughed wiping the water off his shoulder in vain, as it had already soaked his shoulder. "Sorry about that."

She stood up and headed towards the kitchen, but was stopped by Tom's voice.

"Nichole..." She glanced over her shoulder at him. "I'm so glad your safe." He smiled that crooked smile she loved.

"Me too." She simply said. She realized the whole time she was with him, she had butterflies in her stomach.

She went into the fridge grabbing a bottle of water, then grabbing various things that are needed to make a ham and cheese wrap. She took the wrap and her water and went to the guest bedroom, shutting the door quietly behind her and placing the food on the bedside table.

She saw on the bed was a pair of jeans, a new pair of underwear, a bra, a white tank top, a white button up blouse, and a green zip up sweatshirt. They all looked like items he had grabbed at random and rushed to buy. She shrugged to herself putting all the articles of clothing on except the sweatshirt, which she threw to the side of the bed, for later use.

He most certainly must have rushed to buy everything for her.

She picked up her wrap and shoved it down her throat eating it at quick speed. She then chugged her water bottle down. She hadn't realized she was so thirsty and hungry. She got herself under the three covers on the bed. The sheet, a fuzzy blanket, and the comforter, and placed her head on the soft pillow. This bed was a big step up from the Joker's bed. His felt all dirty and lumpy. She never noticed how comfortable the bed was, though most of the time when she ended up sleeping at Tom's she was drunk from a party they had been at and didn't pay attention to a bed's comfort.

She turned to one side, about to flick off the light when she noticed something on the bedside table.

Her music player.

She smiled, letting out a small laugh. It was her ipod. When the Joker got her at the party, she must have dropped her purse to the ground in shock and Tom must have grabbed it.

_Oh Tom. I could just kiss you right now. And how I really want to._ She smiled as she grabbed her ipod and touched the edges of it.

Music. Her old friend. Her best friend. Music made her heart feel all warm and fuzzy. Music could make her cry, laugh, or even sing. And music was now returned to her. The feeling that went through her body was undescribable.

The door opened. She let out a huge gasp jumping in her spot. She sighed with relief to see it was only Tom. He mouthed the word sorry, a phone in his hand as he extended it out towards her. She took it raising an eyebrow. She placed it by her ear watching Tom leave the room and shutting the door behind him.

She wished he stayed.

"H-hello?" She asked.

"Nichole? This is Commissioner Gordon. Remember me?"

"Oh Gordon. Hello." She smiled. "Glad to hear from you."

"Nichole. I am very sorry with what has been happening, and I just...I just feel so _responsible_. I mean you were in our police station and he still got you. Can you forgive me?" He asked sincerely.

"Gordon...Don't be sorry! It wasn't your fault at all. Understand?" She heard him chuckle, and mutter "Sweet kid." to himself. She guessed once your above age fifty, you are allowed to call anyone, even those who are in their early twenties "kid."

"I know, but...still."

"Please...It's over now. I'm safe so let's just not talk about who is to blame right now. There is only one person to blame and that is the man dressed up as a clown." Nichole said, the irritation and hate for the Joker showing in her voice.

"I want to talk to you in person. Question really. But we really need some answers from you that will help us out for later things. And-" He was cut off. She heard a distant mumble and then Gordon said something with excitement to someone.

"Nichole! We got him!"

She blinked, mouth hanging open.

The Joker caught.

"Oh my god..." Was all she could say.

"Don't worry! This time twenty four hour watch on him and he will be sent to Arkam in the morning. Nichole you have nothing to worry about you're safe now!" Gordon sounded so happy his words rushed, but also was sounding like he needed to end the phone call. "But I just need to speak with tomorrow ok? How about we grab breakfast at Bickford's? Around nine. No make it ten. Ok?"

"A-A-Alright then...See you tomorrow." She said, clicking the talk button off and placing the phone on the bedside table. She flicked off the lamp and curled up in a comfortable position, in complete shock.

Her mind buzzing with questions, and thoughts. _The Joker was in jail. Am I really safe? He had escaped before...... But Gordon was sure this time it wouldn't matter. He was being watched more, and being sent to Arkam. No one can escape there. No one. But the Joker wasn't just someone. He was a mastermind. He had plans_.

She would bet any money he** planned** on getting arrested yet again. She wasn't safe. But she had to convince herself she was. And she had to convince herself that the Joker had forgotten all about her, and really didn't care.

_Just trust Gordon. Trust Gordon. _She thought to herself, shutting her eyes.

As soon as her eyes shut. Images of the Joker came pouring into her head. She sprang up in bed, she placed a hand on her forehead realizing she was sweating in fear.

She took her ipod and put her ear buds in her ears, turning it on blaring the music into her ears. She laid back down shutting her eyes. Focusing on her music.

_Focus on every word. Every beat. Every scar. Scar? No! No thinking about the Joker. Think music. Think songs. Think of laughter. Cruel laughter. Sick laughter, from a mass murdering clown._

She turned her volume up all the way, and eventually she won the battle with her mind and was able to focus on her music, until she was so tired and exhausted she fell asleep.

But yet again in the night she woke back up. Silence was around her. She flicked the light on and glanced at the ipod. The battery was out.

_Of course...It was barely charged when i brought it to the party._ She thought to herself, as she plugged it in to charge.

She laid back down and tried to sleep in the silence of the night.

The Joker was still in her head.

Laughing at her.

Touching her body.

Rubbing the deaths and chaos he caused in her face.

She couldn't stay like this. Tears flowed down her face as she opened her eyes.

She sat up in the bed slowly, removing the warm covers from her body. Cold air hit her fast. She took one of the blankets off the bed and wrapped it around herself as she exited her room.

She poked her head out and glanced around the hallway. The dark shadows cast in them frightened her. Not wanting to stand idle around anymore, she walked down the hallway to Tom's bedroom. She eased in through the half open door.

Tom was sleeping under his comforter, on his stomach with his hands resting under his pillow. Nichole crept silently to the side of the bed he wasn't sleeping on and sat down. Then she slide herself under the covers and stared at Tom's sleeping self.

Just as Nichole got herself comfortable, Tom rolled over in his sleep, and then woke up. He opened his eyes and as his eyes adjusted he smiled seeing Nichole.

"Hey..." He said. His voice had a cracky and tired sound to it.

She smiled, laughing softly once in her throat. "Hey...sorry. I couldn't sleep. Not by myself. I couldn't..."

"I told you I'd be here for you." Tom outstretched a hand and stroked her head, pushing stray hairs out of her face and behind her ears.

"I know...which is why I came here." She said playfully.

"Well I'm glad you did." He smiled.

"Me too.." She was glad the darkness could hide her blushing. Her butterflies never felt stronger. Yes...she was very happy she came into the room with him. With her focused on her butterflies she could try to push thoughts of the Joker into the back of her mind. Though....they still were there. Vividly...they were still there.

"Tom don't leave me tonight. I need you."

"I won't leave....I promise."

It took a few seconds...But Tom then wrapped his arm around her. Waiting to see how she would react, he did this little very lightly. Nichole smiled and scooted herself closer to him wrapping an arm around him as well.

His arm wrapped around her back and his hand remained there. She let her arm do the same and rested her face on his chest.

"Thank you Tom.." She smiled, shutting her eyes.

"I'll protect you from now on Nichole. Forever and ever." He whispered in her ear.

_Oh dear here I go..._

"Tom...When you said that..." She swallowed the lump in her throat. "When you said that you loved me...."

He pulled his arm away from her and pushed her back so that their faces could have space between them and he could look into her eyes. "I meant it. Nichole...I really love you. And... I always have. I know that...I know that you may not feel the same way and just want to be friends, but I really...I love you and I w-want to be with you. I always have and I never did because I thought I never had a chance with you. I always thought you liked me in a family type way...So if you fell that way it's.....it's fine I-"

She placed a finger over his lips. "Stop talking."

And then she leaned in and pressed her lips to his in such a natural and unnerving motion that she barely realized she had done it. He returned her kiss, making no attempt to part her lips or shove his tongue down her throat like the Joker did. He kept giving her short sweet kisses on her lips, resting a hand on her chin.

_This can't be happening!_ She was screaming in joy on the inside.

Though in the next moment, as her eyes were shut and he continued to kiss her, starting to become more passionate with it, Nichole began to see the Joker in her mind. She suddenly could feel him, groping at her and gaging her with his tongue.

She quickly pulled away from the kiss with Tom to prevent her from freaking out and causing the hallusination to go any further.

"I love you." She said, trying to make up for the sudden stop.

Still she would not tell him what the Joker did to her.

He wrapped both arms around her and pulled her to him; resting his forehead on hers. "I love you too."

They stayed like this for the rest of the night. Nichole could not sleep for sometime though. She could see Tom was asleep though. His soft snoring ringing in her ears.

* * *

**Kait:** I am REALLY REALLY excited now because all events taking place in this story after this chapter, are things taking place right after The Dark Knight movie story line. So they are now my plots. And obviously as you can all tell, the Joker is going to escape jail. I mean he's the freaking Joker, he owns all. And he has a few tricks up his sleeve.


	10. The Inevidable Return

**Chapter 10**

As Nichole laid there in the morning, she was in one of those half asleep modes, where you really don't know what the hell is going on, but you know you're awake. She didn't want to open her eyes, fearing that all yesterday was a dream, and she was still in the Joker's grasp. But her restless body forced her to open her eyes.

Her inner self started screaming for joy on the inside. She was in Tom's room alone.

_I had escaped! Oh thank god._ _And the phone call last night, from Gordon. The Joker was caught and behind bars! _She thought to herself excitedly.

She could not hide the smile on her face thinking about last night with Tom. After the ordeal with the Joker was over and he was sent off to Arkham, she hoped her and Tom would go somewhere. He was her comforter now and her love for him was just expanding as the seconds passed by. She craved to see him again.

_Gordon...oh right._ She thought absently, as she remembered she had to meet him to answer a few questions about the Joker.

She had a ten o'clock breakfast with him. She peered at the clock. It was nine in the morning.

_Wow. I thought I'd sleep sooo much later than this._ She thought to herself. She actually figured she would end up sleeping in and missing the meeting with Gordon to be truthfully honest.

She started to blush again as she thought of last night though. All her bad feelings went away, or at least were faded when she thought of Tom yet again.

Finally she got up out of bed, heading to the bathroom. She looked at herself in the mirror. She was in the clothes Tom had gotten her yesterday; the white blouse, and jeans.

_Seems suitable for today._ She thought to herself. She honestly didn't care though. All she wanted really wanted to remove from her apperance was the fear stained in her eyes still.

But it was fading....Slowly.

She combed through her blonde hair, before heading to the guest room and grabbing her music player. She shoved it into her pocket and then walked out into the living room.

Tom was sitting watching television. Her stomach gave her a slight jolt of excitment upon seeing him. The butterflies were back. She sat next to him peering at the big letters that flashed across the screen. _"JOKER CAUGHT!"_

Tom put an arm around Nichole's shoulder pulling her in close. "Isn't it great?" He said gesturing with is free hand towards the television, while planting a kiss on the side of her head.

Nichole sighed snuggling her head on his shoulder.

She wanted to tell Tom that even though the Joker _was _behind bars, that he could easily escape, and that she didn't feel safe even now.

"Yeah, but today I have to go meet up with Commissioner Gordon. He wants me to answer some questions about the Joker. I don't see the point...I mean he _is_ caught. They don't need me to tell them and testify that he is insane. I am sure they already know that." She said, in a matter-of-fact tone. The thing she really didn't want to do was end up having to go to court and stand before a jury explaining what happened to her. Especailly since the Joker would be there watching her.

Seeing the Joker on the television. Just simple pictures. That made all her happy feelings for Tom disappear. She felt her nerves and muscles tense. She began to think about the fact he could very well escape again.

He perched an eyebrow, ask curiously. "You don't see the point in answering questions that will keep the Joker behind bars? Nichole...don't worry. It will be fine." He tried to comfort her.

She grew very angry at this and shot up from the seat glaring at him, saying with much force and irritation, "No I don't see the point in me having to be questioned at all. I don't see the point in him having to appear in court to see if he should go to jail or Arkam Asylum. I think its stupid they have to decide if he's mental or not. **ANY **man who dresses up like a clown and runs around killing students, police officers, and kidnapping is mental! We don't need my answers and story to know that! And he isn't just **some** person. HE IS FUCKING AN INHUMAN ANIMAL! He** is** bound to escape! And when he does he will come for me!" Tears started to form in her eyes. Tears of hurt. Tears of rage. Tears of sadness.

Tom kept his face blank, before saying softly. "Nichole...don't worry he won't escape. I promise. And if he does...I won't let him near you."

She glared at him. "You don't know what he is capable of Tom. You just don't!" She grabbed her green zip up sweatshirt and walked out of Tom's house slamming the door.

She was just so angry. Tom tries to understand but he doesn't. She loves Tom, but still her feelings of rage remained toward him. He doesn't understand, the Joker violated her. The Joker mentally wore her down by bringing up her past, her family, saying Tom doesn't care about her, killing her dog, burning her house down, killing her students, and then to top it all of he gropped and kissed her.

It was too much for her to handle.

She doubted anyone could handle that type of situation.

She realized as she exited, she felt bad for yelling at Tom.

She didn't mean to.

Her anger just came out.

She couldn't help it.

Talking about the Joker and seeing him on the television, just upset her. She'd say sorry when she returned to his house. She hoped he would understand.

A panicking thought raced through her mind. _What if the Joker...this whole ordeal is causing me to snap and freak out at people asking me simple questions? What if i yell at Gordon?_ She had to control her anger. Maybe she could enlist in theropy. She didn't think she could get through the excessive emotional truama without professional help.

She felt tears stream down her face as she walked the few blocks to Brickford's restaurant. There was still fear that at any moment she would see the Joker, but she just had to keep telling and reminding herself he was locked up. She entered the air conditioned restaurant. She felt a tap on her shoulder upon entering the waiting area.

She turned around to see Gordon standing there with a smile on his face. "Right on time." He gave her another comforting smile as a waitress walked over to them. They both were seated, Nichole placing her purse next to her, and Gordon taking off his long jacket.

"So Nichole. How are you feeling after all this? Are you hurt anywhere?" He gave her a hopeful smile.

"Well, to be honest when I first escaped and got to Tom's house, not knowing the Joker was caught, I felt like I was in serious danger. But then you called and put my fears away. Sorta."

"Sorta?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I keep having this feeling he will escape. He has done it once, he can do it again."

Gordon let out a small chuckle. "We have doubled our security and this time. The Joker gets no phone calls."

Nichole forced herself to laugh at his little joke. "Well, that may be the case, but I think...i will always have this part of me that is fearful of his return."

His face became serious, "Nichole. I know this is going to be hard to talk about but...please can you just tell me what happened to you? Why did the Joker keep you and not kill you? Please understand this will not only help the case, but our study on his mind. There must have been something about you that caused him to not kill you right away."

Nichole thought. She looked at Gordon. She didn't know why but she felt like she could trust him. So she decided to tell him. Tell him more then she told Tom at least.

"Well. I really don't know why he kept me. But he has threatened my life numerous times, and almost has killed me a few times. Though a few times he told me he was orignally going to kill me by strapping me to a bomb and placing me in some public center in Gotham. But somehow I did something, I think i had escaped from him, that caused that plan to be ruined. So he wanted to think of a new plan. He felt like I was a tool he could use, and he didn't want to waste me. I think my second escape from him, in doing that, I escaped another death that i KNOW was going to happen that day. He always presses his knife into my throat and once he even threw me, while I was sitting in a chair across the room. Had a nice old piece of wood lodged into my leg. I just think, that piece of wood could have been my throat or head. He told me...the Joker...He always...He always is saying stuff that makes me just flat out sob. I never knew a person could cause you to feel so much pain mentally. Bringing up my past and saying people don't care about me when they do. For some reason when I was around him i couldn't help but _believe_ him when he told me Tom didn't really care about me and that the police didn't care about my case...and....He didn't care. He didn't. I can just tell....He...He killed my dog, and I was sitting on top of my dog's body without even knowing. And then pointed it out, and. And I felt like I was going to die. Not from him, but my mind. He has taken everything from me almost. My students, my house, my dog, my mind. I can't shut my eyes without thinking of him now. HE scares me. His two disgusting scars haunt my mind!"

Gordon, listened intently scribbling down everything she said. He looked at her and spoke softly not wanting to upset her. "He scares me too. He is dangerous and I have never faced a _thing_ like him." She noticed Gordon called the Joker a...thing. It suited him.

"Yes but...while I was held hostage by him...he really scared me and not in the way you think."

Gordon pressed the pencil into his lip. "Oh?" He said.

She wanted to tell Gordon, what the Joker did. Kissing her, kissing her neck, fondeling her. But...she felt embarrassed by it. Ashamed. So she would tell him this information without actually telling him the entire truth.

_Why am I ashamed? I didn't do anything! It was him!_ Nichole thought to herself furiously. But she could not shake off the feelings that it was her fault in some way. It wasn't in reality, but the truama of the event would most likely be the reason she thought that.

She folded her hands on the table and leaned in close. Gordon did the same. She lowered her head.

"He...kept implying he wanted to..." She blushed, in embarrassment as she said in near a whisper. "have sexual intercourse with me."

She saw Gordon's eyes widen. He obviously did not expect that to come out of her mouth. "Has he...?"

_I fucking might as well let it out!_

She bite the inside of her mouth as she said as quickly as she could, "He...kept kissing me..." She said. "And...he put his hands on me...in places I don't really...wanna discuss. But he hasn't done the deed yet. And I'd prefer if you left my name out of this. I don't want all of Gotham to read about how the Joker groped a woman."

Gordon placed his pencil on the table. "Don't worry Nichole. I promise I will leave your name out, but... I really am sorry this had to happen to you. I never thought the Joker would-.....He has reached a new level of danger now."

"Well..." She sniffled, embarrassed as hell. "I just think that he was trying to do that because, well, he wanted to use me in some manner to create chaos and I kept narrowly avioding it by escaping or whatever...and he must have just figured that while I am there...He could just...Use me like that. It's apparant he gets pleasure out of chaos...And since I keep ruining the chaos he has in mind by killing me in a way that would kill others...he is getting his slight pleasure by trying to-..." She couldn't finish the sentence. "....At least until he can use me in the way he intended."

"You're good at thinking into his mind and the way it works." Gordon said in slight awe, and slight sadness for what she had said.

She shrugged. "Spending all that time with him...I was starting to learn his moods and how to react to them. It's tricky."

Gordon nodded and looked outside obviously trying to steer the conversation away from sex. A dark cloud was starting to form over the sun. "Damn weather is always changing here." He said absently.

His phone began to vibrate. Nichole could hear the loud **Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. **He picked up the phone and held it to his ear.

"Hello?" He said.

Nichole didn't know what the person on the other line of the phone said or did, but Gordon's face showed it.

Something was wrong.

He quickly said "Thank you." Before clicking the phone shut and shoving in his pocket. This whole time he didn't make eye contact with Nichole. He slammed his fist in the table. "DAMN IT!"

"Gordon...What happened?" Nichole said with a very fearful tone.

_Please don't let it be what I think it is..._

Gordon's sadden eye looked into Nichole's frightened ones. "Nichole...I'm so sorry. He got away. The Joker escaped. He had people in the police on his side. He got out and murdered some cops. He's...He's back."

It was as if one hundred bricks came crashing down on top of her. Her breath quickened, her eyes darted around the room, expecting him to be anywhere. She turned her gaze back to Gordon. The tears wouldn't come out of her eyes. The fear blocked them.

She choked on her words, "I- I- I told you this would happen! H- He is g-g-going to find me and will never let me go. Alive at least. He's going to k-k-kill me! G-G-Gordon what do I do?!"

Gordon took his hand and placed it back on Nichole's lightly. "Nichole. Nichole! Listen I need you to calm down. Can you do this for me?"

"But...B-b-ut." She closed her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath in before exhaling through her mouth. She opened her eyes and nodded her head.

He gave her hand a pat. "Good. Ok now listen." Gordon was hiding his fear and anger well, but it was obvious to her it was still inside of him. "I will have you in protected custody. You will never leave the sight of my trusted officers. Now can you answer me this. Would the Joker know you would come to the police for help in this situation? Would he know you would be talking to me?"

She nodded her head. "H-He knows I would, since I-I have in the past. H-He would probably figure I'm in protected c-c-custody."

Gordon rubbed his mustache with his hand thinking. "Nichole. If the Joker knows that, then he wouldn't be after you right now. He'd be looking for leverage, something to barter with. Is there anyone you know that the Joker would try to kill, since you escaped? Anyone he has threatened besides you?"

"Oh. My. God." That was all that came out of her mouth. About seven times.

"Tom..." She said quietly.

Gordon leaned in closer not hearing. "What?"

"TOM! He knows about Tom!" She screamed, getting out of the seat and rushing out the front door.

Gordon dashed after her grabbing at her arm pulling her back before she ran down the street. "Nichole, whoa whoa whoa stop! You can't just run off now. He could be anywhere. Hop in my car we can go to your friends house and bring him to the station with you."

She had to force herself to not sprint to Gordon's car. She hopped into the front, and Gordon sped off. "Turn right on Union Street" She said.

Her mind was buzzing. She knew this was going to happen. The Joker escaped. It was part of his plan to get arrested again. No one believed he could escape again. It was because they hadn't had a close experience with the Joker. Sure they had been in the same room, but their minds hadn't been fucked over with like Nichole's.

Her mind kept flashing back to everything the Joker ever said about Tom.

"_Well do you know what I woulda done...if your little friend tried to save you?" She shook her head._

_He took his knife and swat at the open air directly to the left of Nichole. She let out a little scream. The Joker laughed as he said, "Well I would have just...silenced him."_

She felt a sweat begin to appear on the back of her neck. As more flashbacks came into her mind.

"_It would have made it easier if you told that Tom of yours though. Killing one person is much better then killing twenty. Know why? With one person you can...try all sorts of things on them. I wanted to try something new called "The Swedish Cut" on someone. Too bad."_

Nichole felt tears well up by the edge of her eyes, and slowly fall, landing at the corners of her mouth. The salt taste was disgusting to her, and yet too familiar for the past few days.

"_Sooo are you happy Nichole? Are you happy that little friend of yours came down and puckered up with you? Are you happy? I swear I saw you blush Nichole. Or was that just because you were upset it was him kissing you and not me?"_

_She blinked. "What..." Her tone was more alert then before._

"_Yanno a feeling coursed through me as he did that to you...wanna know what it was?" He asked._

"_N-n-no." she choked out._

"_Well I'll tell you anyways. I wanted your little friend's head to be placed in an elevator doorway and then I press the 24th floor button and watch him suffer. That's what I wanted to happen.. Because he got to you before I did." He grinned. "But, but don't worry. I'll take care of your dearest Tom for you."_

Finally they reached Tom's house. She darted out of the car, not caring that Gordon screamed "Nooo don't go in yet!" To her.

She didn't care. She needed to see Tom was safe. She needed to physically see him with her own two eyes. She wanted to find him and hold him tightly to her and never let go. The world was just as she knew it was going to be. Unsafe.

She slammed open the door. "Tom!?" She screamed.

No answer.

She went into the bedrooms. "Tom?"

No answer.

She went into the kitchen. "Tom! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Her voice panicking.

No answer.

She walked into the bathroom. "Tom?" She turned to the mirror and wanted to pass out. It was like a blast of shock hit her.

Written on the mirror, with blood were numerous_ HA! HA! HA! HAHA! HA! HA!'s_ everywhere. And then in the center was written:

_"Seven O'Clock Tonight. 666 Warehouse Avenue. Be there. No cops. Or this lover boy will be returned to you in pieces."_

Nichole felt her head go numb as she fell backwards, she felt herself being caught by Gordon. "Nichole?! Nichole!? Nichoollleeee?" He yelled.


	11. A Life For A Life

**Kait:** I have decided to do the scene with Tom in the apartment getting kidnapped by the Joker. ONLY CAUSE: If I didn't this chapter would be sooo short. So this be a flash backwards!

* * *

**Chapter 11**

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Tom got up from the couch, hearing someone knock on his door. He figured it was Nichole locked outside, without a key. He peeked through his eye hole, which for some strange reason was pitch black. He kept his eyes there for a moment, puzzeled before figuring Nichole must have her hand on the eye hole or be leaning on the door.

"Who is it?" He asked anyways.

"It's meeeee!" A voice answered in a sing song voice. It sounded like Nichole's voice almost, a bit odd sounding, but he opened the door anyways thinking nothing of it.

Tom choked on the air in his own body as he came face to face with a man in clown paint.

He stood frozen in shock and his hand remained on his door handle. He could not think of any words to say, but the slight choking noises escaping his throat.

"Hello Tommy boy." The Joker grinned, pushing Tom backwards into the house. He casually shut the door behind him with his foot.

Tom instantly rushed backwards untill he was in his kitchen. He nearly tripped as he retrieved a knife that was in his sink. He brought the knife up and out extended towards the Joker.

"G-G-Get away from me!" He managed to say.

"Oh ho ho put that down _child. _We both know I am more experienced with knives, than you'll ever be." He pointed to his scars.

"What do you want from me? Leave Nichole alone! Leave us alone! Get out!" Tom said, picking up more force as he spoke. "I'll call the police!"

The Joker simply grinned more coming closer to Tom, who was frozen in his spot; knife still extened outwards toward the Joker. The Joker eyed the knife tilting his head for a moment before, in a fast motion, took Tom's wrist from the hand holding the knife and twisted his wrist, causing him to drop the knife in pain. The Joker twisted his wrist more and more until a loud crack was heard, followed by Tom's groan of pain. He dropped to the floor holding his wrist in pain.

The Joker laughed squatting by Tom taking his chin and lifting his head up. "Oh ho not only are you a child but you scream like one. Ah ha ha ha."

Tom spat at the Joker. "Do whatever you want to me! Just leave Nichole alone! She doesn't like you at all! You are sick!"

"Oh my dear Tommy boy, I know she doesn't like me. She _loves _me."

"She hates you! She wants you out of her life! Why are you doing this?! Leave the poor girl alone! You fucking disgust me!"

"Oh I think you are wrong. She wants me in her life. Whether she would admit it or not." The Joker teased him with lies and taunts.

Tom stared at him in shock.

The Joker continued getting happy from the disgusted look on Tom's face. "You see. She was pretty uh....upset when at that party four days ago you didn't stand up for her when I uh got her and took her away. See she doesn't like you at all."

"YOUR LYING!" Tom screamed. "Shut up! Get the fuck out!"

The Joker continued as if Tom never interrupted. "And ya see. Even if you do love her. You, uh, love her right?"

"More than anything. More than you ever would!" Tom said with force.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA YOU THINK?! YOU THINK I LOVE HER?!" The Joker let out such a loud laugh and stomped his feet on the ground.

"If you don't love her why keep her?! Why don't you leave her alone?!" Tom yelled.

"No no you see love, is the attraction of mind and body to a person. I originally saw Nichole as how some would say a toy, something used for entertainment. I was going to have my fun and then strap her to a bomb and blow part of the city sky high with my own personal 'Nichole Bomb'. But after spending some time with her, I realized something."

The Joker now decided it was time to _really_ mess with Tom.

"She really does entertains me. Just the way she...struggles when I punch her around. The way she crys when I bring up her past. The way she screams and squirms...when I uh kiss her and...touch her." The Joker flashed his yellow stained teeth at Tom, obviously trying to piss him off.

And it worked.

Tom had.

He _had_ it.

Once the Joker said the word 'kiss' his mind couldn't take it. He was so angry. Here Nichole had been molested by the Joker, and Tom had attempted to finally get with her. He thought every touching act he did to her last night, even a simple hug or snuggle must have made her go crazy in her mind thinking about what the Joker did. He figured out now why she broke away from their kiss so suddenly.

He wished she had told her to begin with.

But honestly he could not blame her.

It was something not many would want to tell out in the open.

Tom sprang up and tried to lung at the Joker to knock him over.

But the Joker reacted faster.

He drove his knife into Tom's stomach forcefully, out of anger.

Tom yelled in pain, tears blurring his vision.

"You see Tom? Unlike you, I fight for things I want. And right now, I want to have my wicked way with-" He made quotes in the air as he said, " 'the one you love the most.' But don't you worry, after i have had my fun with her I will dispose of her properly. With any luck you might even be able to see her death on the television in your hospital room, since its obvious you will be in one after this little wound my knife has given you. But for now you are coming with me. You're going to be my little tool in my plan. But don't worry. You don't have to do anything but sit in a chair and look like you're dying. Which from the look of it won't be that hard for you to do."

He chuckled, patting Tom's head. Tom groaned in pain, before his head fell forward and he passed out in shock.

The Joker took his knife out and took a gloved hand and put it to Tom's bleeding stomach letting the blood soak onto his glove. The Joker then got up and searched for something to write on, whistling as he walked. He stumbled upon a bathroom mirror.

It would do.

As he scribbled the message onto the mirror in Tom's blood, he started picturing what Nichole would look like when she saw this.

How she would react?

And better...he thought about how long till she would be _his_ again. He, himself had been shocked he hadn't already killed Nichole. Or even shocked by the fact he was going through all this trouble just to basically have his way with her and toy with her mind, then kill her by the next airing of the afternoon news show. And what did he get out of it besides pleasure and entertainment? She didn't help him one bit with his real major plans to take over Gotham City...Well not yet of course until he caused her death to have an impact on Batman or Gotham. And if he kept enjoying himself by torchering her, what if she became his weakness?

Though how could that be possible, when it wouldn't bug him in the slightest way to kill her? Though it would be a disappointment to him, because the fun would end. But all fun ends at one point, so really even if he killed her, it would be fun.

The thing that even made the idea of her being his weakness spark into his head was due to the fact, if someone else were to kill Nichole before he could, he would be upset. Angry. He wanted to do it himself.

Twice she had avoided a death he had planned out for her to have. A death that would cause chaos, but now he was taking this personal.

He finished the message grinning at it.

"**Seven O'Clock Tonight. 666 Warehouse Avenue. Be there. No cops. Or this lover boy will be returned to you in pieces."

* * *

**

Nichole awoke in a chair.

The colors and shapes in the room she was in became solid and straight after blinking to adjust her vision a few times.

She rubbed her eyes and realized she was in Gordon's office, sitting on an armchair in the corner.

It hit her fast. _TOM! OH MY GOD! WHERE IS HE!?_

She instantly jumped up, feeling a bit woozy at first, and headed out of his office, into the main room. There were many police officers in there, crowded around Gordon who was standing by a white board writing stuff about Nichole's case on it. There were pictures taken from Nichole's house scattered about on desks. The things on the board, looked to be an action or attack plan.

Nichole inched her way to the front of the room, scooting by the cops. "Gordon!" She flapped an arm in the air to get his attention.

Commissioner Gordon blinked, realizing it was Nichole, and rushed to her side. "Nichole. How you feeling? You don't look good, maybe you should sit." He gestured toward a chair by a desk. He looked at all the police officers, "You guys take a fifteen minute break please, and come back here in your gear while I talk to Nichole."

The officers all scattered across the room, heading to the staff room, or back to their desks.

Gordon sat on the desk itself sighing, "Well, these past four days haven't been exactly very kind to you."

_Four days. All this had happened in four days. How insane was that?_ Nichole thought.

"Gordon. What are we going to do. H-H-He has Tom. He will kill him if I don't show up. I need to show up and...go b-back to him." She began to cry hysterically. "I-I have to save him, I can't lose another person precious to m-me. I can't lose him."

Gordon put an arm on her shoulder. "We are gonna save him don't worry. Don't you worry. I promise."

She sniffled, wiping her eyes, checking the clock. It was six thirty. Half hour till she was suppose to meet up with The Joker to get Tom back. "What do you want me to do? Go there soon? Will you guys be there as my backup or something?"

Gordon's eye widened. "No no no your not going there at all!"

"WHAT?! But...but I **have** to go. Tom's life is on the line! This is all my fault! I have to get him back!"

"Nichole its too dangerous, and we don't even know if Tom is still..."

"Still what..." She said in almost a whisper.

"Still in the same building as him I mean. The Joker might not even bring Tom. This might be all part of his plan just to lead you to this place and get you again. I can't let you go through more pain. I can't let him do what he wants to you. You and I both know what's going to happen if you go back to him..." Gordon frowned, his eyes saddened.

He said all this like he actually cared for Nichole as a person, and not just some random Gotham City citizen. It was at that moment, Nichole had complete trust in Gordon, she felt as if he was the father she never had. She felt like he was looking out for her. But...she had to go. Gordon couldn't stop her. She needed to save Tom. The Joker is not someone to mess with and not show up to a meeting when he wants you. No one else was going to die because of her. Her students, and her dog, and some police officers were dead, trying to save her. No more.

She nodded, pretending like she wasn't going to do anything. "So what's your plan?"

Gordon rubbed his chin. "Well we are going to try and talk to him. Offer him something that he may want. Hell if worst comes to worst we are going to shoot at him, but don't worry we will get Tom back."

"Only one problem. There is nothing the Joker wants. He...He wants Gotham City, and I'm sure you don't have that in your pocket." Gordon chuckled. Nichole glanced back up at the white board remembering the address to the Joker's meeting place, before turning back to him. "Do you think I could use the bathroom? I really just want to find some place to be alone. And I don't wanna be in here when you all are discussing plans for tonight."

Gordon nodded, giving her shoulder a pat, "Its down the hall and to the right." He smiled at her, she got up. "And Nichole. I'm really am sorry for all this."

She gave him a smile, then headed towards the hallway, knowing she would never see his face again after she did what she was going to do. In fact she knew she would probably never see a single person's face ever again. For once she was back in the Joker's grasp she knew he would never let her go until he killed her.

She turned to the right. A door clearly labeled _Women's Room_ was on the side wall. But straight ahead was another door...

...Marked with a large _Exit _sign_._

Her brain sent a jolt into her legs and she dashed forward and out the exit door. She had to go. Tom was going to die if Gordon stepped foot in the place Joker wanted to meet up in. She raced into the cool air, it was still daylight. Since summer was almost here, it was going to be very light out later, which was good for her, because if it was dark she wouldn't have a clue where she was going.

It took her about fifteen minutes to reach the street, the place was on. She was out of breath, and sweating. She took her white blouse off, and used it to wipe off her head and neck. Leaving her in just a white tank top, her jeans, and flip flops, which were on the point of breaking off.

She read the buildings numbers. They were all warehouses and very creepy looking. She was looking for Warehouse 666.

_660...661_

Her heart was pounding very fast; she dropped her blouse on the ground not caring or needing it. She also kicked off her shoes.

_663..._

She thought of what Gordon would do when he realized she was gone, and thought about the fact he had cars and could easily be on her tail.

_664..._

She sped up hearing sirens in the distance, looking behind her seeing blue and red lights very far away, but still close enough to be in her line of sight.

_665..._

Her stomach dropped as she saw it.

_666..._

She raced to the side of the building to enter it. She hesitated at the door, feeling as if she was going to throw up. She had to push herself inside, almost tripping in the process of the small bump in the threshold. As she got inside, she saw a few overhead lights scattered throughout the room flicked on. The door behind her shut automatically; the sound echoing in her mind for a few moments even after it had faded. Being in the room, it felt like night time; shadows were everywhere.

Tom could be anywhere.

But more importantly The Joker could be anywhere.

She walked towards the center of the large room, turning around in circles to see if anyone else was in the building with her. Nothing but shadows, large crates, and a pile of ashes. She walked over to the ashes, kneeling down picking up part of a burnt hundered dollar bill. Odd who would burn money? She stood straight up dropping the dollar bill, the sirens sounded close now.

It wouldn't be long before Gordon's team came busting into the building trying to get Nichole out. She had ruined their "plan", but she had to stick with the Joker's plan. It was life or death. No other options.

She suddenly felt something press into her neck. A familiar feeling, she looked down to see her old friend. A nice little steel blade knife.

"Well, Well, Well. What do we have here...?" A voice cooed into her ear.

The voice she wanted to escape from.

The voice that caused her pain, mentally and physically.

She felt a hand go onto her waist and turned her body so she turned around to face the voice.

She looked back into those two cold dark eyes, surrounded by black makeup. His makeup was on all smudged and wrecked. After all he had escaped from jail, and didn't take a break at all. He had gone straight to Tom's house. She would bet if he took off all the makeup he would have huge circles under his eyes. His two scars came into focus and the lighting was making them even more eerie. She felt her heart stop and pick up double time again. The hand on her waist, tightened its hold causing her intense amounts of pain. He grinned at her, seeing how scared and yet irritated she was.

She felt like she was going to throw up.

"Well. I missed my little _mischievous_ Nichole...I do remember telling you that uh if you escaped from me...I wouldn't be too happy." The hand on her waist moved up to her face and took hold of her cheek. Even though his hands were gloved she could still feel the pressure of his fingernails digging into her skin. "And after all I am a man of my_ woooorrdd-dah._" He grinned, letting go of her face, spinning her back around placing the knife by her neck, once he had heard a sound that was a car door slamming.

Just then the doors opened. Gordon and a swat team rushed in, guns drawn screaming. "Freeze!"

The look on Gordon's face said it all. He wasn't expecting Nichole to have gotten to the place before him. Gordon, with a hand movement, told his men to lower their guns.

He lowered his gun as well stepping forward. "Joker..."

"A ta-ta not a step closer." The Joker hissed through his teeth. Nichole noticed the Joker was holding the knife so close to her neck, that it caused pain. She had to back up to relieve the pressure, and so she had to lean against the Joker's chest. She didn't know if he did that on purpose or not. Either way, it pissed her off. She didn't want to be close to the Joker let alone _lean_ against him.

She could feel he was arroused, but she did not think that fact was due to her. She thought it was just the whole rush of aderinaline from escaping jail and the excitiment he got from having the possibilty to die right here due to Gordon's police forces. He enjoyed the rush even more than the pleasure he could get from a woman.

"She's not the only one I can harm." The Joker smiled, using his free hand and taking out a detonator. He then pointed the detonator to the left of him. Everyone's eyes scanned over to where he was pointing.

There sitting tied up in a chair, covered in blood and dirt was Tom. A gag around his mouth to block him from talking, but muffled yells could be heard. He had explosives tied to him. Nichole couldn't hold it in.

She let out a scream. **"TOM!"** She yelled.

The Joker looked down at her. He let out a laugh, leaning down to brush the bottom of his chin on the top of her head. "See what happens when you don't listen_-nah_...to me?"

She thrashed back and forth in the Joker's grip screaming Tom's name over and over again in despreration. "You let him go! Let him go!"

The Joker began to back up, causing Nichole to as well to keep from being cut with the knife. He was headed to a back door. "Now _comis-sion-ner_ if you want that guy to live as well as everyone in this room..... Don't follow me. But if you want him to end up in a _mil-lion-nah_ pieces..." He smirked. Gordon made eye contact with Nichole, who was still trashing about. He could not clearly see her face, but could clearly see the frown present.

Gordon, was holding in his rage. The Joker always won.

Always.

And this situation was no different.

He backed up until he was in the threshold, waving the detonator in the air grinning. "I'll be seeing you around commissioner." He nodded his head and then backed up into the outside, reaching forward and shutting the door.

He turned around. A parked van was there, with two men in the front seats. The Joker lowered his knife and flung the backdoor open. He litterally kicked and shoved Nichole inside. She slammed against the window on the other side of the van, letting out a grunt. It felt like she almost cracked her head on the glass window.

The Joker followed in after her sitting next to her, placing a hand on her leg making her flinch. "And soon you will see just how much uh I _missed-dah...._you." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down as the driver slammed his foot on the gas pedal and sped off. "And....how angry I am that you happened to avoid the death I planned for you yet again....But don't worry. You will be begging for death today."

The Joker had his happy little grin on his face.

He had won.

He got what he wanted.

Nichole.

Tom hurt.

And Gordon pissed off.

All he needed was a Knife Museum to open up and it would be heaven to him.

* * *

**Kait:** It was a shock to me today. Just to let you all know I use the website Imdb, and go on the boards for Dark knight all the time. In my signature I have the URL to this story, and someone saw it and reorganized it. That user would be Howl1101. Shout out to you! You made my day!


	12. Claiming Ownership

**Kait: **One thing i love about the Joker, is he never swore the entire Dark Knight movie. Other villians in movies or criminals swear all the time to make them seem all cool and hip. But the Joker? Never did. I loved it. He talked so formally too and ugh...That's a weakness of mine. Those who speak formally i go weak in the knees for! Another example...V for Vendetta's V. Daaaaaaaaaaamn. Okay I'm done hehe.

_Note:_ Meg was my beta until chapter 29 or so. I have deleted (due to how unnessary they were) some of the things and conversations me and Meg had in the authors note. Now they hold no point, because all it was saying was "sorry for lack of update" or "I don't know how next chapter is going to be" or "review". Then Sydney became my beta/co author past chapter 29

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**Chapter 12**

Nichole was disgusted, and terrified, and yet felt very relieved on the inside.

She was putting her life endanger right now to save Tom.

She was acting very heroish. Not like her at all. Normally, to be quiet honest, if placed in a situation with death, she would back the hell away from it. But this was someone that was going to die for her. And that's not right. If she was going to die, let it happen. Not taking others down in the process. But either way, she didn't want to die.

But the look in the Joker's eyes held a promise, that she would indeed die. Just not at this soon.

_As long as Tom is alive...As long as he is alive._ Nichole thought to herself. _You did it Nichole...you saved him. He's going to be alright because of you._

The van pulled up to the house Nichole wished she would never see again. The Joker grinned looking at his watch less wrist, then looked forward at the driver. "I wanted to be back here quicker. You drive a little to slow for _uh_, my taste." The Joker reached into his pocket, retrieving a gun and shooting the driver in the back of the head. Nichole screamed out of habit from the sound and the splatter of blood that stained the front window.

She should be used to the sight of blood by now, seeing as so many people have been killed in front of her, but its just not something that goes over well with her, thank you very much. Bits of his brain were seeping down onto the space between the driver's seat and passenger seat. She had to look away.

The Joker slide his door opened, getting out of the car. Nichole followed slowly behind him, seeing no point in fighting him.

The air was much cooler and the sun had gone down, and her being in a tank top did not help her freezing self. The Joker placed a hand on her back and pushed her to move faster. She shuddered at his touch.

The Joker held in a laugh as she shuddered, and lead her inside; even holding the door open for her. He was pretending to act like a gentlemen at the moment. Just waiting to get up the stairs and switch his act up. They walked up the stairs to his room.

They reached his door, he fumbled in his pocket for some keys and unlocked the door. He pushed Nichole, and not very gently at that, inside the room. He locked the door behind him, then turned around and shot a mischievous smile at her. She backed up a bit, but he followed her. He walked slightly faster than her and shot forward with an extended hand, wrapping it around her throat slamming her into the wall.

"Yanno." He began.

She put a hand up on his to try and break free of his grip. She let out a series of grunts and yelps as he tightened his hold making it hard for her to breath. She sounded like a dying animal. But really...she was expecting this. She had run away from him. She provoked him.

"I never thought you would actually try and escape again. I thought I uh, taught you _many_ times what happens when you do, but obviously.... You didn't get the _message-jah_. You didn't listen to me. People need to learn to listen to me. I never lie to them when I tell them the consquences for their actions." He flicked his tongue over his chap lips and around the edges of his scars, grinning as he did so. "Now say your sorry and I will think about going easy on _uh..._you." He tightened his hold on her neck even more, if that was possible.

She let out a squeal, that came out more like a squeak. She clawed and scratched at his hand that was around her neck, but he didn't seem to care one bit. She managed to squeak out, _"S...Ssssss.....Sorry!"_

He kept his grip on her. "Oh ho ho but you **will** be." He let go of her neck and she grabbed onto it, chocking and sliding down towards the ground while leaning her weight on the wall, but the Joker took her by the chin and kept her standing up.

His eyes grew intense as he questioned her. "So why did you leave? Are you not happy _here_?" He chuckled. "Can't see why." He got in closer to her, crushing her rib cage with his chest. He rubbed her neck, faking careness in his facial expression. He loved to put on acts. She moved her head to the right avoiding eye contact, but he gripped her face turning her head back to face him. "I think, I already went uh easy....on you. I didn't end up killing your little Tom, today. You should be happy."

She spat out at him. "But you nearly did kill him you bastord!" She was met with a hard smack to the face, but she braced herself before hand knowing very well that she was going to get it. She didn't care at this point, she knew he was going to kill her.

"Tut. Tut. Tut. Still haven't learned to keep your negative comments to yourself? I'm appauled. Maybe I should go back and kill your Tom. Maybe that would teach you the lesson." He chimed.

Nichole instantly screamed without thinking, **"NO!"**

The Joker blinked a few times, pretending as if her loud screaming was hurting his eardrums, before he patted her cheek, with the hand that was gripping it, and said "I knew you'd see things my way."

"Please....just don't hurt him. Please leave him alone and _I-I-I- I promise_. I will never try to escape again!" She pleaded. "Just leave him out of this! It's me you want!"

He made a clicking noise in his mouth, before saying, "Don't make a promise you can't keep. It only leads to bad things." She opened her mouth to say something, but he stopped her by placing a finger on her mouth. "You see Nikki, If I had uh killed your Tom there, I'd have nothing to threaten you with but your own life at the moment, _soooooo _you would easily try and escape again-nah.....And what fun is it to have you escape? I'm not the type of guy that goes around chasing things. Well, of course, besides the Batman. Only reason I am chasing you is because once I start something...I like to finish. I believe you have avoided a bomb being strapped to you three times already. My my...lucky aren't we? Oh well...Some other time then."

He backed up a little, having a wicked grin on his face. After a moment of staring at her with a smile he spoke again.

"Take off my jacket." He said flatly out of the blue.

She blinked, not expecting him to ask that of her. She hesitantly walked foreward towards him and veered to the left so she was behind him. She saw his eyes watch her every movement. She reached up and slide his jacket off. "Where do you want me to-"

"Do I look like I care?" He said irritated, rolling his eyes.

She shook her head and then placed the jacket on the desk's chair, hiding a whimper. He motioned her to come over to him again, and now leaned on the wall behind him.

"Now my gloves, tie, and uh vest....My hands are just so tired from tying up Tom and picking those locks on that warehouse that I don't think I could manage."

"Do it yourself...." She said without thinking, in an irritated tone of voice under her breath.

The Joker took the side of her head and then smashed it against the wall next to him. She screamed in pain, bringing her hand up to her head. No blood was flowing out of it, but a bruise, she could tell was already forming.

"Your comments hurt me Nichole. They really do....Now do what I asked of you." She stood there, frozen still clutching onto her head. "DO WHAT I ASKED OF YOU!" He yelled growing impatient.

She jumped in her spot then rushed over, starting to untie his tie, feeling very light headed and as if her face had been torn off. She actually missed reaching for his tie and her hand landed on his chest for a moment, before she finally found it and started to undo it. She had a little bit of trouble, so she finished untying it rather slowly to avoid choking him, but the Joker didn't seem to mind. She could feel his breath on her face as she slide the tie off of him and threw it on the ground. She then grabbed a hold of his hand. He gave her hand a squeeze, before she slide the purple fabric off of his hand, and then took the other glove of the other hand. She let them fall out from her hands as they both were off.

He grinned as she moved to his vest, unbuttoning everything to expose his light blue, hexagon patterned shirt underneath it. He finished his vest for her feeling very antsy, letting it drop to the ground. He wrapped one arm around her waist pulling her closer, her chin rested on his chest and she was forced to look up at him. This position was causing the air in her throat to be very little.

He smiled, "Yanno, I just realized something. You remind me of Batman in so many ways. You both are just too much fun. You entertain me. But unlike Batman, I would kill you in a heart beat, because that in itself is fun." He chuckled, as she shuddered involuntarily against him. He could speak so formally, and without the slightiest bit of care about him wanting to kill her. "But...like I was saying, you and batman both bring a smile to my face." He licked his lips. "I think you should be smiling too Nichole. Because this is all fun.....Smile for me will ya? If you don't....I know just how to make one appear on that pale....frightened face of yours." He stroked the side of her face with his bare hand for a moment, before placing both his hands on her hips.

He held onto both of her hips in a tighter grasp suddenly and then flung her backwards. She braced for a painful impact, but was surprised when her body came crashing down onto a mattress. She laid there for a few moments taking in the fact the Joker's bed saved her from pain, and then leaned upwards on her elbows, her legs still laying down. Her vision went black for a moment, before she was able to focus and see where the Joker was in the room. The shadows in the room caused his figure to be even more frightening. The makeup seemed to be shades darker with the shadows mixing his black and white covered face with shades of grey. He was by the desk; already he had taken off his shoes and socks, and now was working on unbuttoning his shirt.

It hit her.

Him taking off his clothes.

Saying he was going to put a smile on her face.

The look in his eyes; filled with lust and want.

She knew in her mind it was coming one day or another, but with the event about to happen now...she never felt so scared. She had never felt so unprepared. She had never felt so....numb.

She gulped, scanning the room and everything around her, for something she could use; to maybe hit the Joker with, or distract him with so she could run out of the room.

_But he locked the door. Damn it!!!! _Her panicky mind thought. _How can I talk my way out of this one!_

Her mind was racing for an answer to her answerless question.

She heard clothing come in contact with the ground and looked back over at the Joker. His shirt was off, revealing his upper torso. It was filled with old battle scars and some that were just healing. He had some muscles, but not over the top or something that would turn heads.

She wanted this all to be a dream, but knew it to be not true. The fear was real.

The Joker must have saw the look in her eyes and he smirked finding it to be an opportune moment to mess with her, "Aren't I a _dish_?" He laughed, unbuckling his belt and throwing it to the side. Then stalked over to the bed rather slowly. Each step he took echoed in her frightened mind; his bare feet coming in contact with the hard wood floor and growing louder as the bed was right in front of him. He withdrew his knife clicking it open, and got onto the bed as quick as an animal pouncing its' prey.

But in reality she _was_ his prey.

Nichole was too much in shock to react.

He straddled himself on top of Nichole, sitting on her stomach. He grinned bending down and cutting the two straps of her tank top and then tearing it down the middle. He ripped it off of her, and she flushed with embarrassment as he exposed her bra.

He threw his knife off to the side and looked down at her.

"Please.....stop." Was all she could think to say, and all she could say, in nothing but a faint whisper. Her nerves made her feel like she was going to throw up.

She didn't know how to reaction; how to respond. She just froze. She had been able to feel the fabric of her clothing come off, but...she felt as if there was nothing she could do to stop it.

"But...it's. Too. Much. Fun." He laughed.

He began to reach for her jeans, when she snapped and tried to attack him. She brought her knee up and tried to hit him in the groin. She ended up hitting the side of it, and litterally gaged at the feeling of it against her knee, even though it was blocked by his pant's fabric. He grunted, feeling the small blow to his groin, and she took this moment to bring her hands up and try to shove him off. Her hands felt as if they were burning against his bare chest.

The Joker then brought his hand up and backhanded her with such force, her head hit the backboard.

The pain on her head paralyzed her and kept her from moving. She shut her eyes trying to get the pain to stop and get the feeling of blood running through her head, instead of the weightless air that felt like it inhabited it.

While she was in this state, The Joker was able to scoot back on her, so he was sitting more on her hips, than her stomach.

_Not him. Not him! Anyone but him!_ She screamed in her mind.

The Joker then leaned foreward and snaked his arms under her back trying to undo her bra.

Nichole could feel his bare skin against her stomach and that was the thing to get her to fight back again.

_NO! I won't let this happen! I won't let it!_

She let out an ear piercing scream and started to attack him as much and as visciously as she could. She clawed at his chest, leaving scratch marks and trying to cause him to back off from the pain. She trashed her arms and legs around and then punched him as he arched his back fro mthe unexpected attacks she was bestowing upon him. She hit him on the side of the face; makeup smearing and all.

She squirmed her whole body underneath him. Litterally no part of her was remaining still. She was going to get him off of her at all costs.

She then took hold of his hair and started to pull harshly at it, ripping some out.

It hit her as a complete fear at the fact, as she pulled out his hair, it did not appear to affect him. Literally he did not wince, nor groan at it. She looked at his clump of dirty green tinted hair in her hand and shook it out of her hand. She continued to scratch at him now, chipping away at her own fingernails in the process and causing many to bleed themseleves, but she did not care.

He was now able to react, as the entire time he was trying to get a firm grip on her hands.

He growled. "You're wasting your time!"

He then grabbed hold of a chunk of her hair on the side of her head and began to pull on it with no mercy. She screamed, bringing a hand up to his hand, trying to push it down to her scalp so the pressure would stop.

The panic she felt, caused breathing to come at a difficult cost.

_I can't hurt him! He's too strong!_ She thought hopelessly.

She had never been so panicked and so scared in her life.

_Anything but this! Oh my god! I can't let him! I won't! Fight Nichole!_ She tried to tell herself.

She started pounding at his face and chest again, throwing her hands in any direction; completely overtaken with fear. Each time her hand would come in contact with him, she'd quickly move her hand to punch at another spot on him, since his hands were moving with hers trying to hold onto them.

He leaned his weight up, so he was sitting on her once again and then he brought his hand up in the air.

He then slapped her with all his might, giving her the hardest slap he had ever inflicted on a person.

Nichole blacked out at that moment. Darkness overtook her eyes, but she could feel and hear everything.

Pain was seering on her cheek where he slapped her. It took her a moment to realize one of the sounds she was hearing was her own scream of agony. Never had she screamed so hard in her life. Never had her face burned from such an attack in her life.

The darkness covering her eyes faded and she was able to open her eyes, but she could not get her body to move. She was in a complete daze of pain.

The Joker was reaching yet again to take off her bra.

Nichole made the tiniest movement, shifting her body less than an inch to the left from the pain and trying to stop him. The small movement she did may even be unnoticed to someone who was not paying attention, but the Joker saw it and could see she was starting to come back to her senses after his hard slap.

She moved her legs from underneath him, just a little bit; too weak to make any big attempts to stop him.

The Joker then leaned back slightly and did something that was not nessisary, but it felt as if it was to him.

He threw a fist down and punched her in the eye. Then without giving her a second to react or even scream, he punched her again with his other hand, sending the fist of no mercy down upon the side of her face.

Nichole lost consciousness at that point, for a moment. The Joker took this time to lean to one side of her, and unbutten her pants. He slide them off with ease, due to her being blacked out.

Nichole could feel everything though. She could feel the fabric of her pants sliding off her slowly and hear it being thrown off the bed. she then felt the Joker finally remove her bra and throw that as well to the ground. He sat back on her looking down at her dazed self, bare and exposed to him.

When she finally came around, she felt so weak and her head was throbbing in so much pain, she thought he had cracked her skull open.

"Ugh...get off of me." She cried out, weakly. It came out as nothing more than a disgruntled whisper.

He grinned down at her. "Well nice of you to come around again. Don't want you sleeping when the show is just begining." He nodded at her, then looked back down at her chest.

Embarrassment flooded her face. "No...No!" She said in her whisper scream. Tears started to flow out of her eyes. The eye he had punched was growing a faint purple bruise around it, to match the numerous other bruises dressed on her face and body.

He looked back up at her for a brief moment, placing one of his hands on her face, digging his fingernails into her skin.

"Oh, don't cry. I'm just admiring art work here doll." He grinned, leaning down. He aimed to kiss her face, but Nichole leaned her head out of the way so the Joker settled for kissing and sucking on her neck.

She wished she could die right then and there. She wanted her head to be detatched from her body. It had never felt that much pain before. The room was spinning around her, and everything was blurry.

She then felt one of his hands starting to grope at her womenhood above her underwear. He was starting to pull on it, trying to take it off.

"Please don't! Tell me this isn't happening! Don't....Stop!" Her voice started to pick up on volume, but she still sounded so weak.

Her whole body felt numb, and as if nothing around her was actually happening. She was in a state of shock.

The Joker took his hand and pressed it into her shoulder tightly. He broke skin on it yet again with his over sharpened fingernails. "Why are you so upset sweetie? Aren't you happy this is happening?" He tilted his head, trying to hide his humor by putting on a serious face. "Oh...Is it that you want Tom doing this?"

As he said the word 'this' he snaked his hand under the cloth around her womenhood and inserted a finger in her wiggling it around a few times.

"YOU SICK FUCK!" Nichole yelled, finally gaining some strenght back due to her fear.

"Oh what was that Nichole? Was that a no? Do you want me to stop? I don't know, maybe I should cut you some slack, should I? You have been through a lot today."

He kept his single finger in her the entire time, and just stared at her in dead silence. She stared back, in a state of fear, locked by his dark black tunnel-like eyes that could easily be compared to his black hole of a heart. He looked at her as if he was honestly in thought, considering letting her go. He made no facial movements, nor did his body move.

She felt disgusted by his finger inside of her, but made no attempt at the moment to shift him out of her. She didn't know if he was actually going to let her go or not. He was unpredictable.

He suddenly spooke in a booming, humored tone of voice. "No, I don't think I won't, because I don't care what you think! I don't care what you want at the moment! The look on your face when you actual had a glimer of hope I was going to stop! It was priceless! But I am not Nichole! Not when I have my dinner all heated on and served on a sliver platter in front of me! So suck it up sweetheart! Sit back and enjoy the show!"

He took his hand that was pressing her shoulder into the mattress and placed it onto her left breast and then moved his finger that was still inside of her back and forth, in a quick pace.

He leaned down and smashed his mouth onto hers, taking no time to beat around the bush. He sucked and bite at her lips that tried to remained together and block him out. He squeezed his tongue in and licked inside her wet mouth, moving her tongue up and down with his.

He then squeezed down on her breast as she began to squirm again from under him. She screamed in the utter most pain. It felt like he was trying to squeeze them flat off of her.

Goosebumps were all over her.

Its not that she was cold, but more like frightened.

Embarrassed.

Ashamed.

And in shock.

But not cold at all.

His body was very warm against hers. Sweat from her body transferred to his.

The only cold feelings within her was her numbness.

His finger was burning her insides yet again.

Sobs left her mouth and directly went into his mouth, that was connected to hers; no space was between them at this point. He was leaning his entire body weight into her and his arousment pressing into her leg, through his pants. Even though it was covered with cloth, it felt like it was burning her.

He then removed his finger from her and then pulled her undergarments down all the way, smirking as she yelped and tried to stop him. He took hold of her wrists, backing his mouth away from hers and pinned them to her sides. He sent a quick stun slap to her face again, making her unable to move for a few moments. In this time he took off his own boxers.

When Nichole came around again, trying her best to ignore the pain, she noticed something she hadn't before. On his upper bare leg was a strap that held a knife to him. She gulped at the sight as he reached back for it and pulled it from its leather small holder.

She could feel his hard length on her leg at this point, and felt no cloth seperating it from her.

He brought the knife in front of her face, letting it caress her skin as a warning. He was showing it off, to remind her what he could grab at any point and use.

He placed the knife by her neck. "You can't escape this Nikki....." He hissed through his teeth in laughter. "An escape artist with no more tricks up her sleeve. Poor you." He placed a fake sad face on, as if he pity'd her.

Leaving the knife by her neck, he leaned down and kissed her once more, biting down on her lips; flicking his tongue into hers. She fought her tongue back in anger and fear since now he had a knife to her neck, and he enjoyed it. He was finally getting her to join in the _"fun"._ He felt his body tense up, he couldn't do this foreplay anymore. He had to do something, and do it now.

He positioned himself in between her legs by shifting his body. Nichole's eye widdened as she knew what was coming next. There was nothing she could do to stop it. Fear overpowered her body. Sweat lined every inch of her.

And then thrust himself inside of her quickly, giving her him fully in the first blow.

This being his first time with her in an act such as this...He wasn't looking for a prolonged experiance. He wanted to "test" her out. See what he was working with here so to speak. He didn't intend for the first time to be the best or the longest experiance with her. He just needed to slowly get used to her and figure out her weak points. If he really was wanting this to be long, he would have fondeled her breasts a bit more.

Her whole body went numb.

She tried to scream but it came out as a choking noise.

He did not mean to, but he pressed his knife deeply into Nichole's neck, his muscles went tense and then he began to thrust forwards and backwards into her. She couldn't breath, it hurt too much and it felt like a huge task in itself to breath.

It felt like a dagger inside of her, repeatedly being pushed back and forth into her body, in a rythem.

She groaned out in absolute pain.

She was dry and tight, so these factors worked against her. It made it feel like he was burning her insides; tearing her up.

She was so disgusted, the bile from her stomach went into her mouth and she had to quickly swallow to avoid throwing up. As she did so, it happened to be a moment, he was moving foreward into her, so she began to choke as the pain overtook her and the bile in her throat became stuck. She managed to swallow, but not without causing tears and coughs to escape her mouth.

He sped up, trying to go deeper and deeper into her.

She couldn't even cry; sweat dripped down her and she could swear she could hear a slight sticky noise each time the Joker's upper torso went up and down off of her, due to her sweat. She grabbed onto the sheets tightly trying to get her mind off the pain, but she couldn't. The more she moved and thrashed her head, the more his knife went into it.

And do you know what The Joker did as he watched her helpless body squirm and cry as he pressed deeper into her?

He laughed.

It started like a normal laugh, but it got louder and more insane as he continued.

She then reached up, and put her hands out, landing them on his chest, and clawed into it with her fingernails. "Stop!"

He acted against her; now each time he would thrust into her, he'd crush her arms underneath him. Her attempt to push him off of her was useless.

He laughed more, biting her neck. "You can't tell **me** what to do!" he yelled into her ear. His voice shaky, as if he was holding back something.

As he leaned his head down, his voice then got deep and he whispered aggressively into her ear. "You belong to me now."

That sentence, made her mind turn to mush. She truely felt hopeless and as if what he was saying was true. It sparked her thinking into a complex fear, that caused her to stop moving all together. Her hands fell limp by the sides of her head and goosebumps covered every inch of her sweating body.

"You disgusting pig..." She whispered; her voice shaking.

The Joker tensed as she grunted in pain on his next thrust, that he made sure would be extra painful.

He was taking pleasure from it and he came to conclude that this test ride on Nichole was very enjoyable for him. In the back of his mind he thought to himself he would have to try foreplay for a longer amount of time and try different types of moves later if Nichole was around much longer and he was ever in the mood to do this sort of thing again. He took away the knife that was against her neck and threw it across the room. It hit the opposite wall with a loud thud, and remained attatched to it. He placed that hand on the back of her hips and he kept his other hand on the bed, directly next to her face.

He pulled her into him now, squeezing every inch of his length into her.

He wanted to hear her _beg_ for mercy.

"No.....No! Stop it!" She said, but in a way that sounded not convincing at all. Her weak state, caused her voice to waver. The pain devouring every inch of her body.

"Jooooo-ker! STOP!" She grunted loudly. Her mouth hung open, she shut her eyes tightly. Her screams lasted a good few seconds.

The Joker, who was breathing very heavily, gave one last thrust, and he gave. She felt a warm liquid enter her. It felt like it was burning her up from the inside.

The Joker collapsed on top of her, laying there. His head turned leaning on her breast. He then removed himself from her and rolled off of her, landing on to the spot next to her on the bed. Nichole laid there in shock. The only sound heard was both of their loud breathing.

Both of them sweating a lot.

Her from fear and pain.

Him from pleasure.

He broke the silence feeling like pillow talk was just the thing to tick her off even more now. He leaned upwards peering down at her grinning.

"You seemed to enjoy that_-tah_." He chuckled, jokingly.

She didn't have the energy to glare at him. She just laid there gazing up at the ceiling, the only thing escaping her mouth was her loud breaths. He nudged her side with his elbow and she shuffled a bit, trying to scoot away from him and towards the wall the bed was up against. She would be boxed in if he were to try to scoot closer to her. She wondered if he planned this.

Nichole did not want to even see him anymore out of the corner of her eye so she rolled over on her side so her back was facing him and she was staring at the wall. The Joker grabbed her shoulder forcefully and made her body turn so she would be laying facing him. She didn't put a fight...because she physically could not. She was drained.

He grinned placing his hand on her hip, letting it relax there on her bare skin while he was looking deep into her eyes. She manged to move her eyebrows downward and glare at him.

Her insides felt as if they split into two pieces.

"_Oooh_. Don't be like that Nichole. You should feel lucky. Lucky that your still living after that ordeal. I could have easily slipped that knife deeper into your throat." He leaned up grabbing the comforter and throwing it on top of them. It was then Nichole realized her neck was bleeding quite a lot, and it stung. She knew that tomorrow she would be in so much pain. The blankets on and under her were slowly being stained with her sweat and blood; though she was so numb she could not feel it running down her skin and onto where she laid.

"You should be thanking me." He cooed.

"For.....For what?" She said, in a not as irritated as she had hoped toned. She still sounded like a lost puppy out on a street corner.

He yanked on her hair, then hissed into her ear. "For claiming you. Because in doing so, I'm shielding you from those unworthy, like Tommy boy, or some other dim witted man."

"You don't own me!" She yelled at him, sending saliva into his face. He didn't care.

He kept his mouth by her ear and said very calmly into her ear. "Oh but I do. You see, I own you forever. Since I have claimed you, no one else will want you ever. Not even as a friend."

"I'm not going to be here forever! I'm going to get out of here." She said forcefully. She didn't know why, but after having sex with him, she felt like she could say anything to him. Maybe because she knew he was tired and wouldn't really do much, or because she was so angry and ashamed she didn't care if she died at that moment.

"Oh I _knoooooow_ you are not going to be here forever. But you will be mine so as as you uh live. Because, I am going to end your life. Now don't ask when, because I don't plan things like _that-tah_. It could be in a month, a week, or heck even tomorrow. I'm not a man of plans. People think I am, but I just go with the flow of things, unlike these idiots who run the world that think far into the future. But my point is, I am going to end your life, so really you would have been mine forever. Forever meaning of course, your life span. Because like I said. You're so much fun. Killing you will be fun. But you still have uses. Maybe just a few, or many some uses I haven't even discovered yet. But believe me I **will**." He laughed.

He tightened his hold on her, pulling her close to him. Her head smashed into his chest. He was still breathing very heavily.

_Wow. I wore out the Joker._ She thought absently.

She could feel his groin on her as he pressed the entire font side of her body into him.

He licked his lips once more, shutting his eyes.

Nichole laid there.

Everything that just happened didn't hit her yet.

The pain in her body was all numb for some reason.

Nothing hurt.

And her mind was upset by the fact the Joker just raped her. She guessed she was in shock, and everything would hit her tomorrow. And she started to wonder.

_What other uses could I have? Why couldn't the Joker just kill me? This really was the most horrible situation I have ever been it._

She laid there for hours upon hours, unable to sleep. The Joker was asleep as evident by his breathing patterns. Nichole felt very uncomofortable being smashed and held tightly too him.

A big break hit her, when in his sleep, the Joker's arms went to his sides and he rolled over so his back was to her. As soon as he did that Nichole scooted as far as she could to the wall close to her and rolled on her own side, facing away from the Joker.

She wiped the dried blood off of her shoulder blade and shut her eyes.

It took her another hour to fall asleep since her nerves were so high....


	13. The Morning After

**Kait:** OK yes, this chapter is going to be short. Like super short, but see there is a reason. I'll tell you in the bottum author note. Promise.

**Meg:** Pinky Promise!**

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**Chapter 13**

Nichole felt a tap on her shoulder.

Her eyes opened slightly, but then closed again. She was just so tired she just wanted to remain asleep....

For some reason it did not even feel as if she was laying on a solid bed.

She was met with a hard smack across the face, which forced her eyes opened..

"Ouch!" She yelled sitting up.

The Joker was standing over her next to the bed; his eyes were dangerous aa he was twiddling a knife in between his hands. The knife glimmered and reflected light into her eyes, which was odd because it was rather dark in the room, and she had no idea where the light was coming from.

He grinned wickedly at her, and the jumped on top of her; straddled on top of her hips, pressing his weight into her rip cage with his elbows as he leaned down closer to her.

_Oh no. Not this again!! _She screamed in her mind.

He leaned down closer to her face, gathering it in his hands. "Why so serious Nichole? Why are you soooo uh sad?"

For some reason she couldn't see his face well at all. It was blurry.

The entire world around her seemed darkened and she swore it was still night.

She glared at him in disgust. "I'm....I'm not sad....I'm disgusted. You are so...So..."

"So what Nichole? Handsome? Loving? Caring? The best pleasurer in all of Gotham? Please take your uh pick."

"How about the biggest monster!" she yelled. Her eyes began to tear up.

He stroked her cheek. "Tsk Tsk Tsk. Nichole....Being so serious. Taking everything in life serious.....I _think-kah_.....you need to smile for me."

He brought the knife down by her face placing it in her mouth and resting it in the corner of her mouth on the right side. "Can you smile for me? Or am I going to have to help-pah...you?" When he said the word "help" he slightly moved the blade into the side of her mouth, cutting it.

She screamed. "NO NO STOP NO!"A little bit of blood ran down her lips.

He giggled, shaking his head back and forth like an animal. "Then put a smile on that face of yours....NOW!"

She immediately smiled to the best of her ability, even though it pained her to do so. Her broken face worked against her. She thought she must look like a freak at the moment.

The Joker tapped his chin with his knife. "Hmmm......not good enough."

He bent down and kissed her roughly, shoving his tongue down her throat. It was all normal, until she felt the knife, by the edge of her mouth. And then it began to tear at her cheek. She let out a ear pircing scream. Her whole cheek felt like it was on fire, blood began to go into her mouth and down her throat, causing her to choke. Copper taste was in her mouth, the warm trickle of it made her feel like she was going to throw up.

The Joker lifted his head up peering down at her. Blood was all over his lips and shirt. "Look at me!" He said fiercly. She screamed, just cutting her cheek more in the process. The cut went way up to her upper cheek bone.

"I SAID LOOK AT ME! I WANT YOU TO WATCH THIS!" He yelled. His words sent a shiver down her spine, as she gripped the sheets in the bed trying to get rid of the pain. But it was no use. Her mouth felt like it was going to come straight off.

She looked up at him. He was blurry from all her tears. His grin was even more sickening, due to Nichole's blood that was dripping off of his mouth and on to her. His eyes were like a rabid dog's. Crazy. Lunatic.

The Joker bent down and began to cut the other side of her face. She felt him saw his way through her skin, hearing her muscles being ripped, tasting the knife in her mouth from the side. Slowly he made his way up her cheek and curved it. She screamed so much she lost her voice. Her mouth cutting open even more. The blood causing her to vomit in her own mouth. She choked, and she couldn't breath. Her face was going numb. Her eyes shutting and blackness covering them. She reopened them to see the Joker laughing and jumping up and down on her excited by his fine master piece of her face being carved. "Beautiful! Simply _Bea-uuuu-ti-ful_!"

She felt so light headed, as he yanked her up by grabbing onto her hair and placing her ear my his mouth.

_"You belong to me now!......"_He yelled into her ear.

A scream woke her up.

Only then did she realize it was her own scream, jolting her awake from her terror.

Sweat was pouring down her face, causing her hair to stick to her.

She felt her cheeks.

They were normal.

Fine.

_All that...was just a dream._ She thought silently to herself.

She sighed with relief, falling backwards into the bed. She peered to the right of her, seeing the bed was empty.

The Joker no where to be found.

She could see it was early morning due to the reddish glow peeking out of the boarded up windows. She decided to get up and go to the bathroom.

As soon as she sat back up everything hit her. She stood up and suddenly fell to the ground in pain.

The feeling she had, in between her legs, was kind of like the feeling of after riding a horse, but far worse. It felt like she had dozens of cuts, inside of her, and it felt like her muscles were torn in her legs. Her neck was in pain every time she moved it, even ever so slightly.

She was not a virgin, before this experiance so she assumed last night, in her almost sleepless night filled with thinking to herself, that she should not be in so much pain in her womenhood, but the Joker had been so rough and fast with her it hurt far worse than any other time.

Her head was pounding and aching in each spot he had punched her, and the back of her head also felt sore from where it hit the headboard.

She sat there, leaning her back against the side of the bed for support.

_I can't move!_ She thought, panicking.

It hurt her too much to move. She never experianced so much after pain.

She figured she had only recieved two hours of sleep at the most, and could feel her exhausted body, despretely trying to force herself back into sleep; even if it meant forcing her to pass out.

She crawled herself into the bathroom and used the sink to help her stand up.

She examined the cut on her neck, and was so grateful after that moment. The cut was very deep; had it been any deeper she might have died. The Joker had lost his self control and just had to cut the knife into her neck without thinking. She searched around in his bathroom until she found that dirty old towel she had used to clean off the Joker's makeup. She ran it under water and then dabbed off all the dry blood. She winced at first from the painful feeling the warm water was giving her cut, but she delt with it.

Her neck was also filled with bruises, that were in the shape of hands, from when the Joker numerous times, had tried to strangle her. Hickys were also present all over the side of her neck. She pushed her natted hair in front of them to hide the ugly red spots, and bite marks he had left her with.

Her arms, and legs, and even her chest were filled with bruises as well. All from the Joker shoving her, grabbing her tightly and leaning into her with too much force.

But by far the worst was her face. On the eye he had punched, a dark purple bruise was present around it. The side of her jaw held a bruise as well. Also on her forehead a faded blue bruise was present. She looked like she had been in a large riot or fight, and not taken damage by a single person. Her lips were swollen from when he had bitten down on her, but the cuts were inside of her mouth; not on the outside.

She went over to the toliet and went to the bathroom. As embarrassing as it was, taking a pee hurt her. It felt like she was on fire as she did so. She groaned out, keeping a hand over her mouth to hush her grunts. She even felt a few tears stream down her face as she pee'd. She had taken, taking a piss painlessly for granted all these years.

_Funny how the Joker can make you see what you were missing out on. Painful pisses and all. _She tried to think light heartedly to herself, to keep herself distracted from the pain.

She hated him with all her heart.

_I am going to kill him. I swear on my life. I will kill him._ She thought to herself in rage.

Once she was finished and washed her hands for good measure, she crawled herself back over to the bed. Standing up straight was too much effort at the moment. She glanced behind her, noticing her clothes on the ground and shoving her underwear, jeans, and bra back on quickly. The Joker had ripped her tanktop, so she was shirtless.

_Great._ _Just fantastic!_

She slowly slide herself up and into the bed; laying on her side.

She was in a lot of physical pain. But she would ask for much more physical pain, if it could get rid of the mental pain.

She began to cry.

First silently, then into a flat out full sob. Images of what had happened to her, raced through her head. She kept seeing the look in the Joker's eyes as he stalked over to the bed and ripped off her clothes. She kept seeing his face hovering inches above hers as he thrust himself inside her.

She could feel him inside of her, burning her up. She felt each punch to the face as she struggled to get away.

And she kept hearing his laugh.

His cruel laugh.

It rung into her ears, still, as if he was in the room even now laughing.

After this she would never be the same. He had done something she had never experianced. Not the sex part, she had experianced that before, but the feeling he gave her. Making her feel like the lesser person. Dominating her. For a few moments when he told her that no one would come and save her and no one cares about her.....she believed him. He had the ability to alter her thinking into negative thought. This was not looking good for her.

Not.

At.

All.

The Joker was evil.

That she knew.

He was smart.

He knew what he was doing.

And he always is prepared.

Always it was as if he knew what was going to happen next. And even if something happened that he did not expect to....it would still turn in his favor because it would be as if he planned what to do if the wrong thing happened. He was a genius. A bastord though...but a smart one.

She shut her eyes, feeling very small and alone in the world.

Feeling as if Gotham City was her own personal hell, and that someone up in heaven or whatever place you go to when you die was out to get her.

One pharse kept haunting her mind as she shut her eyes.

"_You belong to me now." _

The Joker had said it with such a husky and deep tone of voice, it was so scary and even as she pictured him saying it in her mind she had the same feeling she had when he actually had _said_ it to her. The feeling of hopelessness.

She wondered how if she ever were to escape forever from the Joker, how she would be able to overcome the mental challenges that awaited her.

She knew, after all this she would never be the same.

His voice chimed in her mind once again....

This time....her mind added little something to it; for it knew the statement to be true in whatever way a person could look at it.

"_You belong to me now.....and forever"

* * *

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**Kait:** I KNOW ITS SHORT. Sorry guys, but I felt the need to have one chapter have a nightmare, and describe the physical and mental pain she was going through. It had to be a chapter in itself.


	14. Unexpected Events Part One

**Chapter 14**

Nichole laid in his bed for about a couple more hours, just staring at the ceiling in a trance. She held no will to walk around his room restlessly or do something with her spare time. She tried to picture herself far away on some remote beach filled with busy tourist and overpriced parking lots. She pictured herself sitting under the sun's glistening rays by the ocean shore taking in the feeling of the water creeping up on her toes. It took her a while, but she was able to actually feel peace for a few moments. Getting her mind away from the situation at hand was difficult, but she did not dwell on the thoughts of how she managed it.

But still she could not feel anything but numbness.

The sound of a door bursting open startled her and she woke her up from her daydreaming state of mind. She sat up tiredly and saw the Joker, busy shoving a knife in his pocket. He held a paper bag in his hand. He finished putting his knife away and looked at Nichole, licking his lips.

"Well you slept, _uh...._rather well. Did something _exhaust_ you?" His eyes twinkled in the light; a mischievous grin placed on his face. His makeup looked perfect at the moment, as if he actually spent time putting it on instead of his normal "slop it on" look he held. She couldn't help but, yawn at this moment. Bringing a hand up to the cut on her neck, to feel it.

_No dry blood. Good. _She thought to herself idly. _The cut had stayed shut in the few hours I had laid here since I last cleaned it. This cut is going to be a hassle._

The Joker went over and sat next to Nichole, emptying the brown bag onto his lap. Out poured a white styrofoam box, that one would normally recieve if they did not finish a meal at a restaurante and wanted to take the remainder of their food home with them. He opened the box and Nichole's stomach literally growled as she saw what was inside. There were four squares of various sizes to divide food sections in the box. In one section was eggs, the next three pancakes, the next section held bacon, and the final section held toast cut into triangles. The Joker sniffed the steam rising from the food, then let out a satisfied exhale.

_He's just trying to fucking irritate me! Trying to rub it in how he is in control of everything....even what I freaking eat._ She sighed mentally.

She hadn't eaten since yesterday morning, back when she was safe having breakfast with Gordon.

He took his gloved hand and picked up a piece of toast biting into it. Nichole thought she was drooling at this point. She was starving!

He had just finished off the toast, picking up a bit of pancake with his hand, before he turned and looked at Nichole, who was staring at him and the food. Her eyes filled with hunger and desire. She was so tempted to reach forward and snatch the food in the tray on his lap, but she was not that brainless.

He extended his hand outwards, and put a puzzled look on his face. "Do you want something to eat too?" Faking interest.

_As if he even has to ask...._

Nichole reached out to grab it, but the Joker quickly took the pancake back and shoved it into his mouth, laughing as he did so to the point where he almost choked. He fisted his chest, and swallowed, before turning his gaze back to Nichole. A frown was seen on her face, because she knew damn well he wasn't going to give her anything to eat.

_The fucking mind torchorer!_

He reached out and wrapped a finger around a lock of her hair. She followed his finger with her eyes, just to be ready if he were to hit her or something. She gained enough courage to speak.

"Joker...." She felt ridiculous every time she called him "The Joker" or "Joker" like it was his first name. Its just very odd to address him like that. "Please can I have something to eat?"

She felt so hopeless.

She sounded so hopeless.

Just another thing to please him.

To hear her begging for something as simple as food.

To state out in the open, not directly of course, that he was in the utter most control.

The Joker was going to hit her across the face and say 'Don't ever ask for anything ever again, I feed you when I feel like feeding you. And even at that I am not going to.' But instead, he decided to have a little fun with it.

"Well..." He made a clicking noise with his tongue. "If you want to have uh, something to _eat-tah_.....you going to have to give me something in return." He winked at her, pulling down the comforter she had around her, so he could see her upper torso, since she only had a bra on. He was laughing remembering how he ripped her tank top in half.

Her eyes widened.

_Does he want sex for food? No fucking way. Un uh. I am not stooping to that level. Never. I'll starve happily to avoid that._

She shook her head. The Joker frowned a brief second, before his grin returned.

He placed a hand on her lap. "Is little Nichole not up for another go then?"

"No....No thanks." She said quietly. His touch, was even more frightening to her then normal, since last night.

"Then how 'bout a kiss?" He grinned, pointing to his lips. She looked from the food, to his lips, back to the food, and then to his eyes. She rolled her eyes, seeing this was the best offer she could get.

She was too hungry to dwell on it. She needed food in her stomach.

She _needed_ to survive.

She leaned forward, her eyes showing disgust. It looked like he had to bite his lip to hide in his grin and keep his mouth closed, as she met his lips, and kissed him for a few seconds. She made no further advancements and nor did he thankfully. She heard a laughter in his throat, as she leaned backwards, he let his laugh out and clapped his hands together.

His eyes held lust and he wanted more, but the look in her eyes showed that was all he was going to get. She felt as if that was the most disgusting thing she had ever done _herself_. What happened yesterday, she didn't do.

**He** did.

He placed the food tray on the bed and off his lap, then smacked his lips together. "Well that was a surprise. I didn't know you liked me that much. I mean I knew yesterday you uh, had a fun time, but you never returned anything and now you are. It just makes me so......" He laughed, not needing to finish his sentence.

She stood up in anger, tightening her fists. She kept thinking about yesterday; his body looming over her as he thrust into her painfully. Her mind snapped and she yelled without thinking, "The only reason I kissed you is so I can eat that damn food. I need food to survive and if coming in close contact with your lip for two seconds will get me a meal, I'll do it. Anymore...no. And yesterday I didn't like at all what you were doing. **You're a pig!"**

The Joker grabbed her by the neck and shoved her into the far wall, knife drawn and by her mouth, pressing into her cheeks. He licked his lips. She noticed he would either do that when he was upset or turned on. She would have to make a mental note of that.

Her throat went into a throbbing pain as he pressed into the bruises he already formed on her from earlier.

"Yanno _bea-uuuuu-tiful_, I normally don't do what I did to you yesterday and let the person uh, live_-vah_. And as far as I'm concerned, I did nothing wrong. Do you not realise how lucky you are to be breathing air at this very moment? How if some person in a dark alley way had done what I did to you...how you would most likely be dead right now?" He brought a sick grin to his face. "What I did to you is not the worst thing that could happen to a person."

She glared at him. "That's not true." She knew she was lying at that point, and so did he.

He began to trace her jaw line with the knife, not breaking skin. "If you are going to start _lying _to me about things.....then maybe I should just sew that pretty little mouth of your shut-_tah_...."

Her dream she had last night ran through her head. It all had felt so real, but thankfully it wasn't. But still seeing yourself getting your face carved is bad enough. Knowing very well that it might actually happen one day, is even scarier.

"Nikki....tell the truth. How did you feel about yesterday?" He cooed into her ear. She didn't want to answer that, but he wanted her too. Not because he was actually interested in the answer, but its something she would be embarrassed to say or cry about and anything that made her cry was like a tool to him.

A tool he could use to corrupt her mind and body.

In doing that, it would make his job so much easier when the time came to get her to do what he wanted. He had a few plans up his sleeves. Of course they ended in her death, but he honestly did not care so he was not thinking about the ending result.

He stopped tracing her jaw and rolled his eyes, knowing he had places to be and she was just not answering his questions. He lowered his knife, still clutching onto her neck with his hand. "Nikki, Nikki, Nikki. I am not a very patient man." He tightened his grip. "You'd do well to understand-dah....that." He let go of her neck, peering out the window and then turning to Nichole. She was rubbing her neck, the cut on it had opened again and blood was pouring out.

He made a "tsk" noise before going over to Nichole and pushing her.

Well he more or less nudged her, but with enough force to knock her to the ground.

She fell to the ground with a small scream. He kneeled down by her, patting her head. "Well....places to be. Must be off. Meeting with the mob again. They're just are so demanding!" He joked. " I'll be back in a few hours. Oh and...I left you a shirt on the desk. I promise I won't rip this one." He laughed, seeing some form of humor in that sentence, that Nichole could not find nor intended to find.

He grabbed her chin roughly and leaned in slowly towards her face. She shut her eyes tightly thinking he was going to kiss her, but when she felt him reamin in that position for a few moments, she opened her eyes and saw he was just staring at her. He was looking at her as if he was trying to depict a piece of artwork that hung on a wall with no description or title behind it. He stayed like this for about another minute; his gaze never leaving her eyes and her eyes never leaving his. This moment was so intense, so frightening to her, that she almost felt like getting sick to her stomach.

"The purple on your face and neck look so well against your skin tone." He teased, infering to her bruises that he made.

Then out of the blue the Joker let go of her chin and walked out of his room, slamming the door behind him.

Relief washed over her like ocean waves do to the sand.

She quickly got up, grabbed the black shirt on the chair, and put it on and then rushed to the bathroom to examine her neck. Sure enough the cut was wide open.

_This damn cut will never heal._ She thought, frightened that it would become infected. _Then what would I do!?_

She washed it out once more, and kept the towel pressed into it as she went back into the bedroom. Her heart skipped a beat eyeing the breakfast box on the bed. Whether he meant to or not, he had left it in the room with her, so she damn well was going to eat it all. She dashed over to it and opened it. Two pancakes were left, along with the bacon and eggs. This would fill her up enough for the day. She licked her lips realizing how hungry she _really_ was and didn't waste any time to dig in.

She picked up the pancakes and shoveled them down. They tasted so buttery and light. They made her taste buds go wild. She finished her pancakes and moved to the bacon. When she ate the eggs they were already cold, but it didn't matter. What mattered was her stomach was satisfied and full enough for now. She wouldn't be starving to death today. She placed the box on the floor and laid back on the bed, resting a hand on her stomach rubbing it in satisfaction.

She was glad she had this time alone, away from the Joker. She hoped by some lucky incident, that he would be caught by Batman or the police.

Soon, though she figured she wouldn't be as entertaining to the Joker.

There are only so many questions and so many times you can rape a person before they get boring.

She didn't want to _think_ about the day she gets boring to him.

_And honestly that could be any day._ She thought hopelessly. _The Joker's mind works differently then others. His definition of boring is different than your average citizen of Gotham city._

If she was going to stay alive, she would have to try and fight back more, and stop all the crying. If he thought even for a fifth of a second, that Nichole was going to whine to and complain during times he wasn't wanting her too, he would kill her. He stated before he hates that type of person.

_Person......_

It hit her. A very scary thought hit her.

She viewed the Joker as a monster.

But a very scary thing to think about is, he was actually human. He had no super powers like the books she has read when she was a kid. He was not a body builder and could lift up intense weights, although he is a lot stronger than Nichole would ever be. But that was not the point. The point was he is human. He must have been normal at one point. He was a baby. He went through puberty. He is like everyone else. Minus the crazy clown getup and the thoughts of anarchy and taking over Gotham. She shuddered and rolled over on her side, trying to take a nap.

She tried to picture the Joker as a teenager or toddler. But all attempts failed and his makeup remained on.

* * *

The Joker smiled as he entered the Mob's hideout. They all were slumped over in their chairs and checking their watches.

"Way to be ten minutes late _clown_." A man with a very strong Italian accent said.

The Joker simply ignored that man, cracking his neck in a quick motion by jerking his head to one side.

The Joker turned towards a different man. "Ah Maroni, **just** the Italian I wanted to see." The Joker sat one of the empty chairs. The mob looked surprised the Joker was alone. He didn't feel it was necessary to bring his henchmen this time. After all his life wasn't endanger.

Maroni folded his hands together on the brass table. "First I want to ask you something. Gotham City, is going under, and we know you are in control now." The Joker nodded his head as if saying "true true". "Harvey Dent is dead, and Batman is now considered to be one of us." A few men laughed. "So we want to control this city, and we can't with you trying to one-man it. You have plans, and we have plans. I think its in our best interest to combine our special talents and take Gotham City for all its worth."

The Joker smacked his lips together. "You see there's a problem with this so called "plan". Your goals and my goals are like fish and air. They just....don't go together. And all of you, just want money. To spend, to trade, to gain valuables. But, you all don't see the bigger picture, in this."

Maroni rolled his eyes. "Ok enough chitter chatter, what is it you want Joker, you called us here for a reason."

The Joker folded his hands together to mimic Maroni. "I want some supplies. Guns, and explosives. I have a "project" in mind and I need all I can uh, get." He grinned.

One of Maroni's men spoke out. "You burned all our money and the guy who was helping us keep our money safe alive, and you think you can just come in here and try to get us to give you what you want?"

The Joker raised an eyebrow and said. "Yes." As if it was common knowledge.

"Well you thought wrong buddy." The man walked over to the Joker, but Maroni raised a hand to stop his man from basically attacking the Joker.

"Wait." Maroni said. He didn't take his eye off the Joker.

"Joker man... come here tomorrow, noon. We can give you all the weapons you need, and more. But in return, I just want you to think about my offer."

The Joker nodded, before giving a small tap to his head. "I'll sleep on it." The Joker got up and walked out the door carelessly.

"Maroni, are you nuts!?!" One of his men asked. "This guy stole all our money and now you wanna help him!?"

Maroni turned towards his men smiling. "Of course not."

"Then why did you-"

Maroni raised a hand up. "You see..The Joker is not going to want to join up with us. He wants Gotham to himself. And once he's in control, we will be as powerless as batman or any other drug user in this god forsaken town. Tomorrow when the Joker comes here. I want you guys to wait for the opportune moment....and then we will kill him."

"But what if he brings people with him?" Another guy asked. "Yanno like his goons?"

"Any one who works for the clown is no friend of mine...Kill anyone with him."

* * *

She laid there for maybe three hours, falling asleep on and off. Her body was so tired and exhausted, it overpowered her fear and disgust. She heard the familiar sound of the door being slammed open. She bolted up expecting to see the Joker, but instead it was one of his henchmen, without his mask on.

He was dressed in a pair of dirty jeans covered with holes and tears and had a plaid vest on. Even with the large distance between them Nichole could smell the alcohol coming off of him. He walked over to Nichole, nearly stumbling over the threshold of the doorframe.

"Get up." He slurred.

She stood up, raising a brow. Something did not feel right. "Where's the Joker?" She asked, keeping her distance from the man.

He grinned, grabbing her arm and leading her out of the room. "Not here, baby. Just the way I like it."

Her eyes widened and she immediately started pulling away from him and kicking at him. He turned around to slap her across the face.

She brought a hand up to block it and began to claw at him, with all her might.

He grabbed both her wrists and pulled her close. "Hey. Hey. Hey. Take it easy girl. That clown isn't the only one who deserves entertainment you know?" He grinned moving in to kiss her, but she brought a knee up and kneed him in the groin. He bent down holding in between his legs in pain. His drunken manner caused his reaction to be a bit late.

She used this moment to sprint away from him, running down a flight of stairs, and then up a flight of stairs, down a few hallways and up another set of stairs. If there was ever a time she wanted the Joker here, it was now. Sure, he would hurt her too, but for some reason she felt she would have an easier chance at living with the Joker, than one of his henchmen. She didn't know why at all. Because either way...either person she was with she would die...But with the Joker she had this feeling she could talk her way out of harm at some points.

She opened the door in at the end of the hallway she was in. The door lead her onto the roof to her disgust, though she hoped she could find a ladder of some sort. She could see, she was about four stories up, and it was rather warm out. A distant chant of youth running around playing merrily hummed into her panicky ears.

She was about to run and hide behind some boxes on the roof, when something pulled on her hair and yanked her backwards. It felt like her whole scalp was being ripped off. She fell to the ground, her hair still in whoever had pulled her hands.

The Joker's henchman had caught up. For a drunk he could run pretty damn fast.

"Ok bitch! If that's how were going to play it!" He took out a knife and moved it downwards to stab her in the chest, but Nichole was able rolled out of the way, some of her hair being ripped out when she did so. She yelped out and rolled a bit till she hit a barrel on the roof, by a little inlet.

The man ended up stabbing himself in the leg. He screamed in pain as he took out the bloody knife out of his leg and threw it on the ground.

He limped over to her, still holding his leg. "YOU BITCH! COME HERE SO I CAN TEACH YOU A LESSON!"

Nichole was able to stand up, rubbing at her head in a slight daze. She backed up out of the inlet and realized she was getting cornered by him. She felt her heels touching the edge of the flat roof top. Her stomach litteraly dropped as she managed to glance backwards for a moment at the view that she thought would surely be the last thing she would see before she died.

The man charged into Nichole sending her flying backwards. She screamed loudly, as her hand was able to grip the edge of the roof. She brought up her other hand to grip onto the roof's ledge as well. She had no upper body strength, mind you, so being able to just hang there was a feat in itself. Her hand felt numb, as she kicked her feet around beneath her searching for something to stand on, but looking down she saw there was nothing; not even a window ledge.

She looked down and began to cry in fear. Her vocal cords stopped working. She attempted to cry out for help, but it was as if some force inside of her was keeping any sounds from emmiting from her mouth.

The man that pushed her stood on the edge grinning down at her. One of his hands was on his leg, stopping the blood from flowing out of his wound; the other was hovering above her hand itching to claw at them. "Think your smart _now_ bitch?" He called to her.

He took his foot and stomped on her fingers, of her left hand. Nichole tried to keep her hand on the ledge, holding on for dear life, but the pain was too much to handle. She let go of the edge of the roof with that hand, yelping in pain. Her other hand felt like it was going to slip at this moment. It felt like her hand was starting to bleed from holding the edge so tightly.

"_Please!_ No!" She called up to the man. She looked at the brick wall in front of her, shutting her eyes tightly.

_I am going to die!_

And if ever she was going to die, she hadn't thought of it like this; at the hands of someone who worked for the Joker. No. She thought she would die from being stabbed by the Joker or anything that involved he, himself, killing her.

She couldn't take it anymore. Her hand was on fire.

_I have to....I have to let go!_

And so she did. She let go of the edge, with one scream escaping her lips.

She was bracing herself for the impact, for her death.

The air rushed by her, and suddenly stopped.

She wasn't moving anymore.

She wasn't falling down.

She had let go and remained in almost the same spot. It took her a moment to realize this.

She opened her eyes, mouth slightly open, as she looked up to see what had stopped her from falling.

There was the Joker.

Holding onto her upper arm tightly, keeping her from falling. Blood was running off the roof's edge suggesting the Joker killed his henchman that tried to kill Nichole. He let out a grunt as he pulled Nichole up and was able to grab hold of her other arm. He dragged her up and back onto the roof. She got her feet on the ground, standing up straight catching her breath. The Joker was right in front of her, looking as if pulling Nichole up hadn't been difficult as all. His face surprisingly held a bit of anger and concern in it, whether it was fake or not she could not register.

She caught her breath, feeling very weak. Her head felt like it was spinning and being clouded by white mist. Her body fell forward into the Joker's chest. It prevented her from falling and now she was just leaning against him, letting out a full sob into his chest. The Joker tensed up and stood there awkwardly for a moment, before wrapping his arms around her waist to be able to back them away from the edge of the roof to prevent her from falling off if she were to try to stand upright again.

The air felt so thick and hard to take into her lungs, but after a few more moments, of keeping her weight on the Joker and calming herself down, she was able to think a bit more clearer. To avoid any anger he may hold for her falling into him, she managed to squeak out a, "Thank you" to him.

The Joker pushed her slightly and she backed away from him feeling her head to be less cloudy. He grabbed her chin, pulling her face upwards to get a closer look into her eyes, clicking his tongue on the roof of his mouth.

"I just _uh_....don't like to share my things_-sah_." He told her.

Normally, that statement would have made her furious, but at this moment it didn't affect her at all. She humored him by placing a fake smile on her face. Then she glanced down at the ground. They were standing in a pool of blood. She looked to the left and saw the dead body of the man that tried to kill her; A knife stuck in the back of his head.

"Th-Thank you." She stammered out, figuring he would grow mad had she not said it.

"So what now?" the Joker said laughing, not his normal cruel laugh, but a average laugh. "You are starting to like me?" He brushed the stray locks of hair out of Nichole's face and behind her ears gently.

It was then she realized he was merely teasing her.

Nichole rolled her eyes. "In your dreams." She joked, without thinking.

The Joker glared at her. She jumped a little in her spot as his glare hit her like a knife to the gut. She thought he was joking around, and being nice to her for once, so she merely assumed she could keep the light hearted mood by joking around as well. Keeping him in a good mood would save her. But it was painfully clear, he was still his same old unpredictable self.

_But he had saved me...? Surely he was doing that for a good reason?_ _He must of done that out of kindness right? _She tried to think to herself hopefully.

But then it hit her; the reason why he must have saved her. He saw her realization in her face, and then grinned deviously.

He took another step closer to her, so she was cornered by him. "Do you want to know...." He licked his lips. "Why I really uh, saved you?"

She shook her head. "No...No it's-"

"Well, I'll tell you anyways. You see-" He pulled out his steel friend, holding it in his hand, making gestures as he talked. "I didn't want someone to kill you. The only person allowed to uh kill you is me." He pointed to himself laughing. "I own you. I decide when you eat. I decide when you sleep. And I _certainly_ decide, when....you die. It would be a waste for him to kill you in such an not useful way. As I told you before, your death will have a purpose and cause destruction in Gotham...but the opportune moment has not come yet....and the supplies for the bomb I really want to use in your death hasn't come yet." He said disappointed.

She now wished she had just fell and went splat on the sidewalk.

He waved his knife in the air. "So if you are thinking. That because I uh, _saved you_ from falling and going splat!" He clapped his hand to his knife mimicking something splatting together. "If you thinking because I saved you, that things will be different between us....then get that thought outta your little noggin." He tapped the flat side of his knife to her head, laughing. "But-tah. I do admit. Your little leaning against me was a bit of a shock." He giggled more. "Is **THAT** how you say thank you to me Nichole? Because if so you need to learn, that a thank you.....a thing I would want in return is much more than that."

Her eyes widened. She could see his sweat dripping down his face. She figured he must be extremely hot in his whole outfit and makeup. The sun was starting to set, but even at night Gotham City is one hot place.

He licked his lips. "But....you are in for a treat. I had a lot of....boring and tiring work today. Setting up bombs, and talking over deals, getting new guns. I really am tired out." She let out a little sigh of relief, hoping he wouldn't hear. Thankfully he didn't and continued talking. "So...nothing will be happening today my _dear..."_ He put a frown on his face, but then as quick as it came, a smile formed again. "But. If you want I might be able to drink a little bit of coffee and be ready for a night of fun." He threw his head back in a fit of laughter, accidentally poking Nichole's arm with the tip of his blade in the process. But he didn't care nor even notice her bring her other hand up to the cut wincing at it.

"I already know the answer to the question. Since you just adore me......I'll go make some coffee." He winked at her. "Just kidding." He mimicked punching her in the jaw slowly before wrapping an arm around her waist and leading her back inside.

He brought her back to his room, and he went into the bathroom, leaving Nichole sitting on his bed alone, twiddling her fingers. About two minutes later he emerged from the bathroom, makeup off, along with his jacket, vest, gloves, shoes and socks.

He rubbed his face in his hands, before sighing and sitting next to Nichole. He licked his lips. It seemed more creepy when he did so without makeup over his two scars. His eyes had circles under them and he looked very tired, true to his word.

"Now I _knoooooow_.... your uh not going to try and escape, and I don't have to do our little handcuff routine now do I?" He asked, falling backwards. His head hit the pillow and he got comfortable, but his eyes never left Nichole. He placed his hands behind his head looking relaxed and even more tired than he had before.

"I'm not going to try and escape...cause if I did, you would just end up finding me again." She said, throwing that statement out, to maybe make him find it as a compliment, by implying he was good at finding people. He nodded his head approvingly.

_I just have to keep up this. I need to make sure I say things to keep him calm and feeling smug about himself._ She thought to herself.

He patted the empty spot next to him on the bed and Nichole glanced back and furrowed a brow at him, keeping her back to him.

He wiggled his eyebrows up and down smirking. "Oh come now. I'm not gonna hurt you...." The look on his face showed he was amused, "..tonight." He added after some consideration.

She hesitantly laid herself backwards. Her head landing next to the Joker, but with a fair enough distance between them. She glanced at him in the corner of her eye. He smirked at her, still wiggling his eyebrows up and down acting as if it was a fun activity. She rolled her eyes and turned to her side, so her back faced the Joker, and her face was to the wall. She shut her eyes and tried to go to sleep, but apparently the Joker hadn't had enough of his little games, because she felt his arm snake around her waist and she felt her body being pulled against the Joker.

He placed his face in the back of her head, his mouth resting by her ear and his chin on her neck. She shivered, not of coldness, but to his touch.

He whispered softly. "Are you _cold-dah_....Nichole? You're shivering." She felt his jaw move up and down against the side of her face as he spoke, which sent a chill down her spine.

"No...I am not...Please don't touch me." she answered quietly.

He laughed. "Again with your lies. Why are you changing into a new person? I like the old truthful Nichole." He pulled her in tighter, his chest pressing into her back.

"Being in this type of situation does things to you." She responded.

She felt him nod his head.

"But yanno Nichole it's like I always say.....what ever doesn't kill you simply makes you...._stranger_."

* * *

**Kait:** Well this chapter is rather long. But its kinda a reward for having to deal with last chapter's shortness. **One:** Yes Marioni is alive. Only cause, in the dark knight they never actually say he's dead, they never reveil his fate, we just know he was in that car crash. Sooo I just am going to throw a freaking bone here and pretend he never died, if he did. **Two:** Yes Nichole is starting to get braver. She is starting to say things without fear, but she still speaks her mind to much and it ends up with her getting a smack in the face. As for her hugging him. She just almost died, so her mind was out of it, so hugging him felt logical at the time.


	15. Unexpected Events Part Two

**Kait: **Well if you noticed last chapter was titled with "Part One" so you all know what that means dontcha?

**Meg: **FREE ICE CREAM!?! _(Jumps up and down excitedly)_

**Kait:**....No. It means that all the events are connected in these two chapters!

**Meg:** Isn't the whole story connected?

**Kait:** _(sighs)_ these two chapters are connected like more. Oh why do I bother! You don't get it! Enjoy folks! **And you will notice the chapters have been titled "Unexpected events" well thats because. ALOT happens in theses two chapters.** Be sure to read it all. No skipping!

_**ReEdited note:** Originally this chapter is where me and Meg began things we like to call "Author Note chats". But when i went back to the past chapters to edit, i put it in that format as well, since it was easier. The first time around orignally i had just bolded the Author notes, but did it this way from this chapter and on for comic relief in this depressing story. Wow that was corny._

* * *

**Chapter 15**

A thought came into her head as she woke up. How comfortable last night had been. How good of sleep she had gotten. The Joker's body had kept her in a nice grip all last night as she slept.

She loathed to admit it, but last night had been the best sleep she had recieved in a while.

_It must have been all the events in the past week had caught up to me..._ She sighed mentally. She was physically and emotionally exhausted.

At that moment the rest of her senses came into play and she could hear papers being shuffled through. She sat up without thinking and a little too quickly. Everything went black for a moment, and she grabbed onto her head, rubbing her eyes, falling forward into the bed.

_"Oooompft" _She said as she hit the comforter.

The Joker looked over at her and tilted his head. "Your not very uh, coordinated are you?" He let out a stiffed laugh and returned to looking through the various papers scattered on his desk.

Nichole sat back up straight, getting off the bed, and heading for the bathroom. She could feel his eyes follow her every movement. She closed the door behind her and after doing her business and washing her hands, she looked at herself in the mirror. She dabbed a bit more water onto her neck wound, which was actually healing quite fast. Her leg wound was gone from when the chair piece entered it, and the back of her neck was fine as well. All that was left was that damn cut in the front of her neck, but since it was healing she didn't want to complain. The chance of infection was very slim at this point.

She combed through her bed head, for a moment to pass the time. She felt very courageous for doing all this without asking for permission from the Joker and such. Normally she would have just sat there on his bed waiting for him to tell her to do something, but she was doing things on her own.

_What would he do to me anyways? Yell at me for using the toilet without asking? Highly unlikely._

That is at least that's what she thought until she finished using the bathroom and opened the door.

He stood there arms crossed with one eyebrow raised. "Did I uh....tell you, you could use my bathroom?"

She gulped.

_Oh shit._

She didn't feel as brave anymore. "N-N-No....you didn't. But I didn't think...I'd uh...Have to ask. Sorry...." She said, hoping he'd understand.

He didn't.

He grabbed Nichole by the ear and pulled. No... more like yanked her forward, squeezing her ear in between his gloved fingers. "You do things only when I tell you to. This isn't a hotel, where you can do things when you _uh_ want-tah...You are in my city. My world. My rules." He threw her on the ground. She rubbed her red ear, her breath quickening in fear.

_Maybe not asking permission to use the bathroom, wasn't a good idea._ If only that thought had ran through her head earlier, but she thinks that since she had just woken up her mind was a little out of it, so she did things like normal, and not as if she was captured by a homicidal clown.

"Make yourself look presentable. We have a meeting to go to." He told her returning to his desk this time looking intently at one piece of paper. Nichole stood up and arched her head to get a better look. It was a newspaper article about the Joker and the fact Gotham City's police department failed at keeping him behind bars. The Joker must have enjoyed the article because he was smiling at it and even laughing a bit.

"Where are we going?" She asked trying to read the paper, to see what was so funny about it.

The Joker turned his head towards her, and put a very confused look on his face. He walked over towards her and gave her a hard smack across the face, sending her to her knees. She let out of muffled grunt, trying to not satisfy the Joker, by letting him see how much that really did hurt. "You don't ask me questions Nichole. I am the one that asks them, not uh....**you**." He poked her nose.

She looked up at him finally, through the stinging pain.

"But if you really must know. I have a meeting with the mob. And since last time I left you here alone, one of my little men, decided he wanted to try and have a little fun with you...." He left off there, seeing the embarrassment and pain in Nichole's eyes. This just made him want to continue more.

"Yanno Nichole, I really don't like to share my toys. And my men know this, but that man yesterday, well he is what you call a selfish person. He just took what he wanted without asking, and that thing belonged to me, so-.....Only I am allowed to have fun with you Nichole." He winked at her, she just looked at him in disgust. "Well my point being, I'm not about to leave you here alone and end up you being dead. Because if someone kills you before I do....well I might just loose it. I put too much time and effort into you for now, for you to end up dead at the hands of an amature."

_Not like he already hasn't lost it._ Nichole thought as she rolled her eyes.

"So your coming to the meeting with me. Whether you like _it-tah_.....or not."

Nichole had no objections. She would rather go to a mob meeting with a ton of criminals being there, than be alone in the Joker's room, with the Joker. She doubted the Joker would do anything sexual and harmful to her during the meeting. Maybe smack her across the face if she acted up, but she didn't plan to.

She was going to behave good and well, so nothing would anger him.

There would be nothing he could say about how she acted at the meeting that would cause him to be upset with her later when they were alone.

The Joker smacked his lips together. "Well we have to get going." He pointed to his watch less wrist. "Don't want to keep the _Italians_...waiting."

He grinned, offering Nichole a hand to help her stand back up. She hesitantly took it, expecting him to let go halfway through helping her stand up, but surprisingly he didn't. Just another way he was toying with her trust.

"Oh by the way....how's the face?" He pointed to his makeup on his face, suggesting for Nichole to examine it to make sure it looked ok.

She gave him a thumbs up, giving half of a sarcastic smile, before returning to her normal gloomy look. He wrapped an arm around her waist and lead her out of the room, holding her close to him as they passed by the Joker's men in the living room. They were all watching some sports channel on television. Nichole swore she heard the Joker mumble. "Stupid...stupid men and their sports."

When they were outside, the coolness of a crisp summer morning air hit her and caused her to shiver momentarily. The Joker once they were outside, had released his grip on her waist, suggesting that the reason he had grabbed ahold of her was to block her from the view of his men.

_Why would he do that?_ She wondered to herself. _Of course that one tried to attack me, but that wouldn't cause him to hide me from them all. He wouldn't care. Maybe he's doesn't want them asking questions as to why he is bringing me with him to the meeting with the mob? HEY! Why isn't he bringing any of his goons? What if the mob tries to attack him....or me._

Nichole was about to open the back door to the van when the Joker stopped and pulled her back by the back of her neck, as if she was an infected animal being dragged away by a hook.

"You ride up front my dear." He told her in a matter-of-fact tone.

She blinked not expecting him to order that on her, before opening the passenger seat and hoping in the car awkwardly. He slammed her door shut fiercly behind her, almost hitting her in the leg, had she not retreated it into the car quickly.

As she adjusted herself in the seat, making sure to press herself firmly against the car's door to be as far as possible away from the Joker, she heard him climb into the car and slam his own door shut.

_He just likes to make loud noises._ She rolled her eyes, and looked at him as he placed the key in the ignition. _The Joker...driving?_

Nichole hadn't seen this yet. She put on her seat belt almost instantly to brace herself for this experiance. The Joker noticed and laughed rolling his eyes, as he made the engine roar to life, and began to drive down the cloudy streets.

* * *

Gordon sat with his hand covering his face. Detective Gonzales placed a file down on Gordon's desk, causing Gordon to jump, having not heard the detective enter the room. He had too much on his mind to be observant at the moment.

Gonzales sighed. "Gordon, you have to stop blaming yourself. Its not your fault that Nichole is back with the Joker. It was her choice to run out of the station. Her choice to go to the warehouse. And her choice to save her friend Tom. She knew the risks of going there, and went anyways. Its not your fault."

Gordon slammed a hand down on his desk. "You don't understand it is my fault. I should have never let her be alone for those few minutes. I should have known she wouldn't have just given up and did what we told her to do. I should have known, I had breakfast with her for pete's sake, she has a personality that when she wants something she will go after it. Just like Batman!"

Gonzales brought his tone down to a whisper. "She wanted to save her friend and she did. Had Tom been in that chair any longer, he might have died of blood loss from the stab wound. Nichole is a being very brave....." He tried to think of something to make Gordon feel better, " ....like Batman! And all heros take risks. Batman took a risk, by letting all the deaths Two face caused, be blamed on him, and Nichole gave herself to the Joker so her friend would be safe. Gordon, even if you had kept her under 24 hour watch, she would have found a way out. If The Joker can get out of here two times, I think Nichole could have."

Gordon sighed, taking what the detective said into consideration. Gonzales was the only other detective to know that Batman was a hero, and Harvey Dent was corrupted by the Joker, although most of Gotham had refused to believe such a lie and still were on Batman's side. "I guess....you're right. But I-... I feel so bad for the poor girl. Only twenty three years old, with no criminal past except for a few speeding tickets in her college years, and sent to live in Gotham at age sixteen with her older brother after losing her mother and her father abandoning her. Her older brother, we cannot contact right now since he's in Iraq and even if we could he can't help us or get back here till his shift is up in that country which isn't until winter."

Gonzales smiled, "You did some research." He rubbed his five o'clock shadow of a beard.

Gordon nodded, not taking his eye off the floor. "Yes....and now this. Being captured and torchered by the Joker. I am just afraid were going to get a call about a dead body in the street and it ends up being hers." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "but knowing the Joker it's going to be worse....far worse."

"So how's Tom?" He asked, trying to get his mind away from his guilt.

Gonzales winked. "He's doing fine. The stab wound has no infection or anything, and he recieved blood donated to him. Of course he is a bit...out of it. Well no offense but after being almost killed by the Joker, I think anyone would, but he's stable and can be released from the hospital tonight, and he will go into protected custody. We don't want the Joker killing him now. But...there is one thing."

Gordon raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Well, he says he doesn't want protective custody. He wanted to go out and save Nichole and kill the Joker. But-" He threw his hands up. "I wouldn't worry about it. I think its just his medicine. He's not thinking straight." Gonzales grinned.

Gordon tapped his chin. "I'll go talk with him later then and tell him he needs to go into protective custody. Tell him that's the only way that he can help. He's too weak to go out and start fighting the Joker." Gordon laughed, readjusting his glasses.

"Yeah. Yeah. So where should we start looking for the Joker? I am worried that since he has her back, he will be using her soon to cause massive damage on Gotham. There is also a threat, since the mob has been released, well most of them..."

Suddenly a secretary rushed into Gordon's office, clip board in hand. "Commissioner Gordon. Um we have found an error in your paper, when you signed Tom out of the hospital."

Gordon gasped, standing up rushing to his secretary. "I **never** signed Tom out of the hospital!" He took the paper from the secretary. It was a hospital sign out sheet for Tom, with Gordon's _forged_ signature on it. Gordon threw the paper to the ground.

"Tom signed himself out, by using my name. I want all available units searching for him. He's going to be trying to go after the Joker! He's out of it from his medicine! He is not thinking clearly! We can't lose another one!"

"I repeat a patient has left the hospital, illegally!" Gonzales said into his walkie talkie.

* * *

Nichole gripped onto the sides of her seat as the Joker, laughing the whole time, whizzed through traffic and by cars, knocking down signs and even hitting a squirrel that was trying to cross the road.

His laugh.

The maniac laugh.

It was very terrifying.

Maybe even more terrifying than his driving.

She couldn't tell at this moment.

All she wanted was a barf bag. This felt more like a roller coaster than driving a van.

The Joker slammed his foot on the brake. The car skidded forward a bit into a parking garage, a high pitch screeching sound came ringing into her ears, as the van finally came to a stop in front of a doorway. The Joker patted his steering wheel.

"And....And were here." He said a triumphant smile on his face, as if he was proud of himself, and more importantly his driving skills.

Nichole took a few seconds to calm her heart attack down, and release the death grip she had on the seat she was sitting on. When she did, she surprised herself by yelling at the Joker.

"Were you TRYING to get us all killed! You nearly let us die fourteen times!" She regretted saying this, after the words came out, but still she felt very strong about her opinion and was going to let it be heard, even by her captor.

"A ta-ta-ta. You see, why drive by the laws. Why not take chances? Not knowing whether you and going to die or live, is _such-cha_..... lovely experience. Wouldn't you say?" He chimed, still proud of himself it would seem.

"NO! It made me almost have a freaking heart attack!" She screamed.

With that being said even _she_ knew she had pressed her luck and had caused his anger to overpower his joy from driving around carelessly. The Joker grabbed Nichole by her chin and yanked her head forward so it was directly in front of his.

"Now let's try to behave today shall we? Or I might just loose my temper even more than it's already, in there and end up doing something that I would regret later on."

_The Joker regretting something? That would be the day._ She thought absently. _The only reason he would regret killing me in there is because he wants my death to mean something and help him in some way. _

Nichole sighed, and nodded her head. "I promise....I'll be good."

****

The Joker patted her with his free hand. "Good girl." He gave her a mocking kiss on the cheek, still acting as if she was an animal before getting out of the van.

The Joker was starting to think.

He started to think that Nichole.....was not worth all of this. Yeah she was fun to mess with. She was fun to have midnight mischief with and live out his sexual desires, but having to drag her around everywhere with him, since his henchmen couldn't keep there hands off her?

That would become annoying.

And she costed him money.

She needed to eat, and food isn't free.

Was she really worth all that effort too?

Sure watching her fight back is fun, because he could easier overpower her, but what if that struggling on her part, turned into her whining and complaining. He sighed, silently. Maybe tonight would be the night to finish the job. Maybe tonight would be the night to kill her. Tonight give her one last ride and then kill her.

She was angering him far too much for him to keep her around long enough until his plan of what he really wanted to do with her, using her as a human bomb, was able to be put into action. She was pushing his buttens each day, and many times he had been so close to killing her. Many times in the night he would reach for his knife and hover above her debating on killing her; debating on if his master plan was worth the trouble of keeping her alive this long.

It wasn't anymore in his eyes.

She was far too annoying to him now. She cried and complained too much.

Her uses were spent.

****

Nichole got herself out of the van following silently behind the Joker, keeping a blank face on as her nerves started to get stronger just thinking about entering a meeting with the mob. They would raise their eyebrows at her, wondering what the hell she was doing with him. They would think things that were untrue.

They entered the mob's meeting, the Joker looked around at everyone and snapped out of his internal thinking. And just as Nichole had suspected, the men looked surprised to see a women in her early twenties walking beside the Joker.

"What tis this?" One man with a thick Italian accent asked. "You came to give us a women in exchange for your guns?"

Some men laughed at his humorous joke.

The Joker sat down in the chair closest to him. "Sorry boys, but she's **mine**." He made a clicking noise with his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "Go wait in the corner." He said glancing back at her and shooing her with a hand.

Nichole obeyed backing up into the corner and leaning against the wall.

_Maybe I could just take a nap...._

The Joker folded his hands together. "So I gather you have, my order?" He said, licking his lips.

Maroni put a hand up. "Yes why of course, but first...have you thought about...my offer Joker? Its still valid and good."

Nichole kept her head lifted up watching the meeting taking place, wondering what they were all talking about. She rolled her eyes and then looked around the room and everything. The room looked like it used to be a kitchen or something. Most things had a metal refinishing over it.

"Sorry Italian, _but-tah_....I work alone. Hence anarchy. One. Uno. Mono. Get the picture?" The Joker made his pointer and thumb in a gun shape type thing and clicking the roof of his mouth again pointing toward Maroni, acting as if he was from the '60's or '70's, because that's the thing everyone would do at that time period.

Maroni, looked behind the Joker at something. He slightly nodded his head in that direction, and then turned his gaze back to the Joker. "I understand completely, and I'm sorry you feel that way. So about your supplies-"

Nichole droned out whatever the two were talking about now, because she noticed a man entering the room, behind the Joker. He had a gun in his hand and was slowly making his way towards the Joker, his hand on the trigger. The gun pointed at the back of the Joker's head. The Joker didn't seem to notice and the man with the gun did not seem to notice Nichole standing off the side. Maroni's men had, but kept there eyes on the Joker, to keep him distracted from turning around.

_Oh no...._ Her mind panicked.

Nichole didn't know what to do. Here she was, with someone about to kill that man she wanted to escape from. The man that killed her students, her dog, and almost Tom. The man that ruined her life, that raped her and physically abusive her everyday, and nearly killed her about a dozen times. But this was also the man that saved her life once. But one good deed doesn't make up for a life time of crime. Does it? And what would happen to Nichole if they killed the Joker? Would they kill her too? Or capture her and rape her. They had said something like, "your offering us a women" when the Joker entered the room with her.

_Oh what to do. They think I am with him. They think I am just a whore...They hate the Joker and they are most likely going to kill me! If they kill the Joker, I am dead...._

Nichole looked at the ground below her and saw a small iron pole, that looked sorta like it was on top of a flag pole before. She didn't knowhow she managed the courage, but she picked up the pole quietly and walked behind the man, that was pointing a gun behind the Joker, at the Joker.

She raised the pole slightly above her head and then....she brought the pole down on the man's head. The man fell to the floor knocked out with a very loud thud emmiting from the pole coming in contact with his skull. The whole room had turned to look at Nichole, who stood there, a frightened expression on her face, with a pole in her hand.

The Joker, realizing what happened after seeing the gun in the hand of the passed out man, opened his jacket's pocket and pulled out a gun, pointing it at Maroni.

He laughed.

"Soooo, trying to kill me now are ya?" He laughed more backing up, standing next to Nichole. "But you need to remember Maroni, nothing ever goes according to plan, now does it?" He looked down at the knocked out man kicking him so he laid on his back, then he returned to look at Maroni. He smiled more, flashing his yellow teeth. "We will settle this later. Just remember, this is my city. I have people working for me everywhere. You may think your safe, but your not. You really aren'_t-tah_."

The Joker grabbed hold of Nichole's shoulder and gripped it tightly pulling her out of the room. He began to run to the van which was on the other side of the garage. Nichole was barely able to move her own two feet from the shock she was in. The pole remained in her head and her legsgrew unresponsive.

The Joker growled and then reached over taking the pole from her hands and throwing it on the ground in any general direction. He picked Nichole up quickly, wrapping one arm around her legs and the other around her back, and he ran to the van. He threw her into the passenger seat, and then he went into the drivers seat and sped off.

They were silent for about a few minutes. Nichole tried to get her heart rate to go back to its normal speed.

The Joker broke the silence. "Well now that was...unexpected. What compelled such an act Nichole?"

She sat there thinking of an answer for that question and really she couldn't find the right one to say outloud. She had just saved the Joker......She had just SAVEDthe Joker's life. After all he did to her, she couldn't let him die in front of her at that moment. Out of fear of what would happen to her if he had died....or had it been because he had saved her life and she wanted to make it even? She didn't have an answer for this question at all, and in fact she would never have an answer for it. Though she told herself it was because if he was killed she would as well. If the mob had killed the Joker, she wouldn't even be allowed to speak her case to them.

They would not hear any of it.

They would kill her just because she is around him.

The man they hate.

The man she hates.

"I-....I-..." Was all she could say. She just shook her head in a desprete attempt to end the conversation.

****

Now the Joker, was in shock.

SHOCK!

Not a lot of things shocked him. Life was predictable, but Nichole saving his life? Now he didn't see that coming in a million years. If she hadn't had done that, he'd be dead. He'd be in hell and his goals of absolute anarchy would be foiled. She had saved him, for whatever reason.

But forget the reason, the outcome was important.

He's alive due to her.

They drove back to the Joker's hideout, and that's when the Joker got an idea.

A thought really.

At a time like this normally he'd be questioning Nichole. Making her uncomfortable, and such, but not now. Not when all these ideas were forming in his head.

About a half hour ago, he had been thinking of getting rid of Nichole.

Her uses were spent and she was getting on his last nerve. Or so he thought.

In the past few days, she had shown she can fight back, and that she is able to, when placed in a situation, keep the Joker alive when needed. She can do handy work, such as cook, clean, and all that other jazz women do. But she also has spunk. A spirit. A voice. She may have other uses, than just entertainment and sex and a death useful to him.....yes she might indeed.

He could push the thoughts of strapping her to a bomb and placing her in the streets of Gotham to be set off to the back of his head.

The Joker grinned to himself as he let his brain wander and gather more thoughts and ideas as they traveled down the windy roads of Gotham.

*****

Nichole kept saying in the back of her mind.

_Why did I save him....._

* * *

A shadowy figure tapped twice on the door.

No answer.

He tapped again with more force, clearly irritated.

"Come in." A raspy smokers voice answered.

The shadow entered sitting in the chair on the opposite side of the desk. A man sat at the desk, staring at the papers in front of him. He was in his mid 40's, balding and very sickly looking. "How can I help yeh?" The man said to the shadow.

The shadow took off his hat, and placed it on the desk, along with a briefcase. He opened the briefcase to show off stacks of money inside.

"I'm looking for the Joker. Word on the street is you know where he can be found." Tom said, his face coming into the light.

* * *

**Kait:** _(sits back and chair and grins)_ Well, there we go. A few things I want to say. Theses two chapters in the story are probably the most important in the entire story. **If you skipped paragraphs, I suggest you go back and read them. **The reason? Because it will help you have a better understanding for the rest for the story so you won't think the Joker is out of character or Nichole is starting some cheesy, "Hey I suddenly like the Joker" bit. I just can never picture someone all the sudden loving the Joker. It would take time. And....There would have to be a reason. _*cough*_ Lesser of two evils keep that in mind _*cough*_

**Meg: **NOT FOR ME! The Joker is one SEXY beast and I can be his Nichole any day _(wiggles eyebrows up and down while drooling)_

**Kait: **_(face palms)_ ok anyway I just wanted to point out the quote: "one good deed doesn't make up for a life time of crime." in my story I used and then realized its from Pirates of The Caribbean. Ha! Love that movie, and its even funnier cause a girl is messaging me giving me ideas and her name has Pirates of the Caribbean in it. PotcWright21 shout out to you and your lovely message ;D

**Captain Jack Sparrow:** Wait a minute Love, you can't just quote me in a Dark Knight story. I'm from the Caribbean and your from Gotham. It just doesn't work

**Meg:** Holy Moly its Jack SPARROW! _(faints from Jack's hotness)_

**Kait: **_(raises eyebrow)_ Well...._(backs away slowly_)_....._(_hands Jack some rum)_ Move along pirate boy! This ain't your story!

**Jack Sparrow: **Thank you love! _(walks away drinking)_

**Kait: **_(pokes Meg)_ Oh dear god she's out. Anyways. Next chapter expect it tomorrow cause I have it off, so I may even be able to squeeze in two chapters tomorrow. And if your like PotcWright21, please feel free to message me ideas. Its really kind of you!


	16. Sexual Desires and Anarchy

**Kait: **Um yeaaaah. So.....Re-editing. I am taking out most of the stuff up here in these authors notes that do not give good informations. But i gotta leave this one little piece because it makes me chuckle:

**The Joker: **_(enters and peers around)_ This isn't Knives 'r us!

* * *

**Chapter 16**

They both sat there in the car, outside the old beaten up house of the Joker's, staring out the windows in thought. The Joker turned his head to her, shooting his eyes into hers trying to figure out what she was thinking or feeling. Her expression gave off a "What the hell did i just do" vibe to it.

"Do you want to know something?" He said in a sing song voice. "I _was_ going to kill you today."

Nichole felt a sigh of relief hit her when she heard the word "_WAS"._

"Sure, you're a fun one, and entertain me, but having to bring you places just so I don't have to worry about my men groping you? That would frustrate me. And you do require food, and darlin' let me tell you something food prices are soaring these days. You cost _me_ money. If i had money then it would be no concern, and I honestly don't care about money. But the process of aquring the money...Well I don't do the long process of robbing a bank for food."

Nichole opened her mouth to say something, but the Joker placed his hand over her mouth. "And before you say, "You could just let me go" Let me tell you something....no I _uh_, can't. I can't just let you out into the world after all you know. You know my house hold location, you know my motives, and besides, I am not one to normally let people go free. What kind of message would I be showing Gotham City if I let a hostage go _hmmm?"_

"But.....theses recent events have made me see things in a new light. Nichole....you saved me, and I know right now you must hate yourself. I can see it in your eyes, you regret it, but what's done is done. And you my dear are the very reason I breath air at this moment." He ran his tongue over his ridged scars slowly, liking the feeling very much. "I bet the citizens of Gotham would _be thrilled _to know you saved the life of Gotham's most wanted." He chuckled, finding the whole situation to be quite humerous.

Nichole on the other hand did not.

"You have been given the easy ticket. The one way pass, so far. And that's....that's ending today. What I want you to do is, work for me now. Work for me until I can use you for chaos." He took the hand off her mouth.

Nichole swallowed before speaking up. "I don't understand...." She said honestly.

"Of course you don't! That's the beauty in it! You will never understand my thinking! But I can't have you here and with me all the time as a hostage. People would question why, and think I've turned into a softy, for keeping the same woman around for so long. Well long in my standards. I think almost one week and you still living is like three years in my book." He winked. "So what I want you to do....I want you to work for me. Help me. Do tasks and also....do things you women are _suppose_ to do." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down in a suggesting manner.

"Sounds more like a slave to me..." She said softly, expecting the Joker to get mad at that statement.

To her surprise he laughed, banging his hands on the steering wheel. "EXACTLY! You're my slave!" He joked. After about five minutes of a laughing fit, he put a hand by his chest trying to catch his breath. "Cause after all I _do_ own you. Listen toots, It will be just like it is now, just you come with me next time I want to make something explode, or kill some of the innocent people of this fine city!"

"It could be simple things from putting on my makeup and cleaning up my muddy van making it look more inconspicuous, to heck killing someone for me. Darlin' this is the only way I see you still staying around here. I don't wanna just have you here for a little sugar and spice, its nice don't get me wrong. Very nice." He wiggled his eyebrows again. "But how does a night of mischief help me take over Gotham City? It doesn't. So you will help me in both departments. Understand?"

Nichole nodded her head, taking everything in. First the Joker wanted her for pleasure, and now he wanted her for pleasure and work? This was too surreal. "So what do you want me to do? Kill someone? I can't do that!" She said forcefully.

He grabbed her chin. "_A ta-ta_. You can't do that yet. Especially not looking like that." He released her chin and pointed to her clothes. "If you are going to be with me every where I go....well at least until I get bored of you....you are going to have to take a more....**theatrical** approach. I go through my henchmen like flies. You would last longer than that, at least if you behave, so I would need you to create a name for yourself." He tapped his chin, then snapped his finger together as he got an idea.

He reached behind him and pulled out a brown bag. He dumped the brown bag onto his lap. A stack of 20 dollar bills flowed out. He handed the stack to her. "You are going to use this money, and go out and buy more....appropriate clothing, with a little more spunk and style. Right now you look like a woman that just endured hell. Can't have that now can we? Unless you'd like to be known as _"I Just Got Beat Up Girl"._ I can see that to be the catchy new thing people would say."

He mimicked the tone of a scared citazen. "Oh no! What's that! Oh...its just _"I Just Got Beat Up Girl."_ She's not scary at all. Just another criminal wanna be. Not like that Joker. Man he's a mastermind. And dare i say he has some dashing good looks." He grinned.

Nichole rolled her eyes. "Like anyone would say that."

The Joker smacked her across the face, keeping his hand on her cheek so her eyes stayed locked onto his even through the searing pain in her cheek. "Well...No one would say that. To my face at least. But i can't help but feel some people _think-kah_ it." His smile twisted more as his yellow teeth appeared. His tongue ran over his scars once more, leaving a trail of saliva behind that twinkled in the light as he moved his hand off her face.

_If he thought I thought that he was good looking, then he was mistaken. He was disgusting! Gross! And above all weird looking!_

She couldn't see how anyone would ever call someone who runs around looking like a clown killing people "good looking", the word "unique" maybe, but anything that was a compliment? No way. But to the Joker "unique" might be a compliment. He wasn't one that followed the crowd so to speak.

Nichole took the stack of bills, taking off the rubber band that held them together. She wasn't really understanding what the Joker wanted her to buy.

_Clothes? But what kind of clothes?_ Her mind was too distracted, because she was in survival mode.

Whenever she was around the Joker her mind would instantly become alert and all its focus was to keep her alive. To try and shut her mouth off from the sarcastic comments or anything that would just plain set the Joker off. She did listen to everything the Joker said, but sometimes it was hard, because he never really made sence.

"Now...just to make sure you don't get the idea I'm letting you walk around Gotham free and merrily. Don't take me for a fool, and I'm not going to underestimate you and think you aren't going to try and escape. You have proved to me a few times that you are a_feisty _little escape artist Nikki. So let me just say this. I know what hospital they are keeping your little Tom at. And if your not back at my house by eight tonight. Consider the hospital turning into rumble." He added extra pronunication to his _T's_ in his words, just to emphasis that he ment what he said.

Now what the Joker didn't know was that Tom wasn't at the hospital anymore. The Joker didn't know that Tom fled the hospital and was currently making a deal with a private investigator to help him figure out where the Joker could be. No he didn't know any of this, and neither did Nichole, so both were at a loss.

"Do we have an understanding? And...I want all that money spent. If i bring that money into the house the men will want it, and I don't think they have earned it, so any left over money just spend on useless products that suit your needs. But if you come back with guns I will take them away my little Nichole. Just spend all the money. I don't care on what. I really don't. Just make sure you have a new look. So I ask you again...Do we understand one another?" the Joker licked his lips, and held out his hand to Nichole to take.

She took it, and the Joker tightened his grip on it as he shook her hand. She bit the inside of her mouth to stop her from grunting from the pain of the pressure he was putting on her small fragile hand.

"Good." He chimed, getting out of the van. "You get to take the van, for your...transportation." He grinned, shutting the driver side door standing by it.

Nichole slide over from the passenger seat to the drivers seat. The Joker tapped on the window, and made a rolling down the window crank motion in the air. Nichole rolled her eyes as she cranked the window down. The Joker leaned his arms and elbow on the open window frame.

"How about a goodbye kiss for me? After all I have no idea whether your going to even be coming _back-kah_......But then again, you have given yourself up for your little lover boy in the past, so why would this be any different." He laughed, as Nichole's face twisted into disgust. "Oh come on, you have done it before Nichole. And after all you should be thanking me for giving you this generous offer Nichole. It is rare I let a person live like this." He leaned his face in closer, they were inches apart.

She sighed, and brought her mouth to his to kissed him lightly, not bothering to stay lingering by his mouth, for fear that he would want more. He smiled, taking a bit of her hair and bringing it to his nose and sniffing it. "Ah. You smell just like candy." He grinned. "Chocolate covered strawberries, or peppermint. Something like that."

She rolled up the window immediately, and wiped her lips on her shirt's sleeve, and then spit onto the car's floor, to get the taste of the Joker out of her mouth. He tasted sorta like makeup and sweat, just like his smell.

She could see the Joker laughing and hear it through the closed window. "Goodbye _sugar._" He gave her a wave, and Nichole turned the van on.

She hadn't driven a car since she was in college. She never felt it was necessary. She could easily walk to places in Gotham City. As she drove she found herself sometimes veering to one side of the road too much and slamming on the brake too many times. And the fact the van was probably older then her and the Joker _combined_ didn't help at all. To her dismay it was also a stick shift.....

_This is my personal hell...._

After stalling many times she finally made it to the mall and pulled up to entered the parking garage. She went to the top level on the garage to the roof. Even though there were many empty spaces on the first level, she just wanted to be alone and think. She turned the car off and rested her head on the dashboard, fighting back her tears.

_No time for crying._ She had to think, and get a better understanding of what the Joker meant.

_Ok...Nichole think...He wants you to get clothes. "Appropriate" he said. Can't be seen with someone looking like a hostage. _She let her mind wander as she thought of what the hell she was going to buy.

_He said "Theatrical" so he wants something like his outfit. Something strange. Costume like. But what? Not a copy his outfit no. Something like it though. Something theatrical...._

_...Theatrical?_

To be honest she was starting to get a headache from all this thinking.

_Buy something card related? No no no. that's stupid and he might get mad that I am copying his style. So nothing that has to do with Hearts, spades, clubs, and diamonds....or Jokers. Ugh god I hate that man. Goodbye kiss my ass. He just wants action. If he wants action he should go jump off a fucking building and leave me the hell alone._

_Maybe I should just go to the hospital and warn everyone. _She sighed. _But knowing him he has his people by the hospital checking to make sure I'm not going there to do just that. _

_Hmm. Theatrical. What was he called me before? _

_Sugar? Heh alright that name is annoying. Oh right he used to compare me to candy before too. Stupid. Candy. Must be my shampoo. Strawberry Mist. Man it can stay on my hair even after like six days? Well that's news to me, best send a letter to the company of my shampoo telling them I love there product, but hate that it attracts people dressed like Clowns _She rubbed her forehead, feeling her sarcasizm calming her down a bit.

_Candy....Hmm.... _She lifted her head off the dashboard and grinned. The idea came pouring into her head. She got out of the car. Checking the side view mirror at her appearance. She spit onto her finger and then used her saliva to wipe off some of the blood on her face. She took the stack of money and put in back into the brown back and entered the mall.

The mall was full of the busy citizens of Gotham. Most adults on their cells phones chattering away, or with their significant other. A lot of teenagers were in the mall as well, since school was out for the summer, most found their entertainment by spending there time in the mall, terrorizing others by setting off alarm clocks in stores or stealing clothes at their favorite department stores.

Nichole checked the big clock in the center of the three story mall.

It read 3 pm.

She had five hours to get everything she needed, put it on and then return to the Joker. More than enough time. And then he told her to spend all the money so...she figured she would buy suplies for her having to live with him for the time being.

She scanned the mall map until she came across _"Pattrick's Costume Shop and Gags"._ She headed to the shop and found exactly what she was looking for. She bought an outfit, some makeup, and a few props and then handed the money to the cashier.

He raised an eyebrow. "Bit early for Halloween miss." He told Nichole.

Nichole made a fake smile form on her face. "Students in my acting school. Play coming up." She hoped he didn't notice how shakey and rushed her tone of voice was. She also hoped the lie sounded legit.

He rubbed his chin. "Bit too risqué for children if you ask me."

"College." She corrected. This lie sounded so convincing even to her.

"Alright then." He said putting the receipt in the bag.

She then carried her rather heavy bag and went to store T_arget_ grabbing a shopping cart and scanning the aisle. Sure she had a few hours, but she had so much work to use on her costume and such she didn't have time to be wandering the aisles for things.

In order to spend most of his money she would have to get quite a few things.

She grabbed a few bottles of her favorite shampoo and conditioner, some soap, a tooth brush and tooth paste, a few books by her favorite authors (getting the hardcover, so it would cost more and use up the money) and finally a few pairs of jeans and tank tops and a few shirts.

She hoped this was what he meant in spending all the money. The books would at least help her take her mind off her fear if she was ever alone.

The Joker had given her a far too large amount of money and there was still a good amount left. Fearing he would grow mad at her for not spending it all, she bought a music player that drained all the money, but a few ten doller bills; which she just dropped on the floor as she walked stuffing the music player absently into her bag.

She took a trip back to the van and dumped off the supplies. She headed back inside the mall to the coffee shop, to use up the last of the money on somethign to eat that was decent. The music in the shop was calming and gave her a slight wrm feeling inside. The smell of freashly brewed coffee and bread coming out of the oven tickled her nose. She ordered her food and sat down at a table in the back corner. She savoired the small amount of time she was able to sit and relax. A ham sandwich with tomato sauce sprinkled on the bread. It was quite good actually in her opinion. Of course anything would taste good after being deprived of food by the Joker.

Next she went to the store _Home Depot _and bought some wire, a metal pole with a curve shape at the end, paint, scissors, some thread and a few needles. The check out man gave her a dirty look for all the things she presented him with, and also raised an eyebrow when she paid him in cash. She didn't want to explain nor did she have time to.

She rushed back to the van, checking she had two hours to get everything ready. She got in the back, and lowered the seats down so the whole back was flat and one could lay down it in. She dumped all the clothes, and supplies she bought.

She put the shampoo and soap and books and other living supplies she had bought for herself back in one bag, but kept everything she bought from Home Depot and the costume shop out.

And she went to work.

Cutting the fabric of her outfit and sewing it. Painting the metal pole. Attaching wire here, and attaching thread here. Cutting this, throwing away that. She started to sweat as she worked faster. In the back of her mind she was happy she had taken that sewing class in high school.

She checked the clock.

Half hour left, and her work was done.

She climbed into the front seat, wiping the sweat off her forehead and started to drive. She glanced back at her finished work and thought it was very foolish and the Joker would hate it.

_This whole situation was ridiculous!_ She thought furiously.

All that hard work she spent, made it look like she wanted all this to happen and wanted to work for the Joker.

She didn't.

And she started to wish that she had bought some hooded sweatshirt or something and snuck into the hospital or police station.

Yeah.......maybe that would have been a better idea, instead of doing what the Joker _wanted_ her to do.

But still....The Joker had not lied to her from her knowlegde yet. So she did not have any doubts he was not lying about Tom in the hospital.

Little did she know he was. And she would never know he was.

* * *

Nichole didn't notice the whole time she was in the mall a man was following her. She was too busy and preoccupied with the task the Joker had her doing to notice anything or anyone around her.

He wore a black trench coat, and was in his mid 40's very sickly looking. He got into his car and sat down writing down a few things on a piece of paper as he watched Nichole drive out of the parking garage. He clicked open his cell phone and dialed a number scribbled on his paper. He waited a few moments before someone picked up.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end asked. The voice belonged to Tom.

"Yes Tom, this is Carlos. Well...I have no idea where the Joker is-."

Tom screamed into the phone interrupting Carlos. "YOU LITTLE BASTORD WHAT AM I PAYING YOU FOR!?! I WANT MY MONEY BACK RIGHT NOW THAT SON OF A BITCH HAS MY BEST FRIEND!"

"TOM TOM TOM! HEY! Take it easy man. You didn't let me finish. I don't know where the Joker is. But I think I will in a second, because I know where Nichole is." He grinned, taking a cigarette and placing it in between his lips.

**"What!** What?! Where is she?! Is she safe?!" Tom yelled, shock in his tone.

Carlos took his lighter and lit his cigarette. "Well she was at the mall. From the expression on her face she was out of it. She bought some things at a costume shop, Target and Home Depot. She seemed kinda rushed, and then she was in the back of a van was about two hours working on something but I couldn't see. I think she was forced to come here or something, because she looked very panicky the whole time. I followed her and now she just drove off"

"Well! What are you going to do now though! She's in a car!" Tom asked.

Carlos took a puff of his stick. "Well boy calm down. I'm gonna follow her and see where she's heading." He started his car and began to follow Nichole's car.

"And once I see where she heads to, I will write down the address of the place. Then I'll call you up and tell ya the place. So you can handle the whole revenge things yourself. I don't want no part in beating up that madman." Carlos spotted Nichole's car and stayed a good distance behind it. "I'll call you when I find out where she is heading. Talk to ya later Tom." He hung up the phone.

* * *

Nichole pulled up to the familiar beat up building the Joker called home and went into the back of the van. She rushed herself as she put on the outfit, and then used the rear view mirror to apply the makeup, which made her feel even more rediculous. When she was finished she smiled at herself, in an attempt to humor herself and lift the sorrow from her eyes.

"I look like a complete idiot." She sighed hanging her head low. "But....hopefully this is what the Joker means by theatrical..."

She got out of the van and headed inside, her stomach in a knot from her being so nervous. She had bolted from the van to the house, hoping no one could see her. A sweat reappeared on her forhead.

She kept thinking of what the Joker would do when he saw her. What his face would look like.

_Would he hate it? Love it? Psh, the Joker loving anything would mean the end of the world has come_. She just hoped he wouldn't beat her into a pulp and say that she wasted his money on the outfit.

She climbed the stairs to his room slowly, taking her time.

* * *

The Joker was at his desk, leaned back in his chair, hands folded behind his head. He was reading a lovely newspaper article that had been published this afternoon about him it was seriously, with all due respect, the stupidest article he had ever read and he laughed the whole time he read it.

"_Who is The Joker?"_

_While all the citizens of Gotham know the Joker to be a masterminded criminal, it brings a question to the table as to what will he do next? But really the question we should be asking is "Who is the Joker?" A madman dressed up as a clown, or an abused soul just needing affection. What happened to this soul that would cause him to terrorize the world around him? _

_Maybe he just needs to be taught how to love and to show kindness. Arkam Asylum may not be able to teach him this, which is why he should be placed in rehab, and not a mental institution. He has a mind. A brain, and he uses it. But someone corrupted it so he uses it for the wrong reasons. Maybe we should find a way to change this, instead of sending The Batman on him all the time."_

The Joker took the article and crumpled it up into small pieces. He sneered in his laughter.

"The nerve of reports now a days."

He had to chuckle at the paper's intent. Trying to understand him; saying he just needs to be loved? As if love would just magically change him. What was this Beauty and the Beast? Fairy tales don't come true, nor does love change anything. It would never change the Joker, because its not possible for him to love. Well he does love. His knives. That's it.

After a few more moments of laughter a noise caught his attention.

He heard the door behind him open. He figured it was one of his goons come to ask a question or ask for a pay raise.

He grabbed his knife and turned around saying, "Didn't you ever hear of knockin-"

His jaw dropped so much he thought it broke off.

Nichole stood there, in the door way, leaning on the door frame. She forced a tiny smile on her face, though it was clearly evident she was shaking in fear. The Joker eyed her head to toe.

She was in a corset type short dress. It had white on the very top with laced edges around her short sleeves and the front. It went low, so he could see the valley between her breasts perfectly. A black bow was in the middle of the top part of it. And right under it the short dress turned black, with two gold lines running down the side, and buttons holding it tightly onto her body.

At the bottom of the dress it was red with two black bows on the side of it, and hanging off the ends of her dress were tiny candy canes attached by strings that dangled and moved every time she walked, or in this case shook.

She had on fishnet leggings that were red and ended with a red band tight around her leg and a black bow was on each of them, with a small candy cane glued in the center of the bow.

Her hair was worn down as normal her side swept bangs curled a bit, due to the fact she was running around in the mall and the sweat of fear keeping it glued to her forhead.

She wore makeup of course, but this was more stage makeup than normal. She had a very bright red orange colored sparklely eyeshadow on, that covered her eyes the same way the Joker covered his eyes with his black makeup. All over the top and bottom, so it was like a large circle of red surrounding her eyes. She was wearing black eyeliner though and had made little curves at the edge of her eyes with the black to make it look like an extension of her eyelashes or something. She had on a very red lipstick on as well.

She had in her hand that wasn't leaning on the door frame a metal pole, that was shaped like a very large candy cane. It was painted to look like one, but from this distance the Joker could tell it looked heavy, due to the fact, Nichole's arm was shaking from tiredness. The "Candy Cane" was rather tall and went up to her shoulders. That's the point where it curved.

She gulped as he got closer to her, his mouth still hanging open. She couldn't tell if he liked it or not. She squeezed her eyes shut as he grabbed a hold of her chin.

_Please don't hate it _was the thought running through her mind.

He turned her head side to side.

"Look at me." He said, but Nichole stood frozen, her eyes not opening. She felt his hand wrap around her throat not squeezing down and depriving her of oxygen, but just there as a warning that he could, kill her right now. "I said **look** at me!" He said irritated and with more force.

She opened her eyes and jumped in her spot when she saw he was smiling and holding back a fit of laughter that swelled in the back of his throat.

He made a small squeaking noise as he chimed out, "A'tta girl. That wasn't so hard was it?......What's wrong Nichole? You seem very nervous."

She chose the costume with a Candy theme, due to him always comparing her to candy. She thought he would like that she paid attention to the small things he said, and then took it into a bigger thing and made a costume out of it.

A laugh made its way up from his throat and came out. He accidentally squeezed down on her throat in doing so, causing her to yelp.

"Oh this is....this is too much! _This is rich!"_ He laughed, tears of laughter forming in his eyes. He slapped his knee letting go of her throat, kneeling down, trying to stop.

***

She was one smart women. Taking little quirks and comments he said about her and making it into this getup. He was expecting her to walk in, with some corney card outfit. Or hell even a batman costume, or maybe a jester outfit. But CANDY!? Oh its too much! He couldn't breath, the laughter starting to hurt his sides, but it didn't bother him. It was worth it.

***

He stood up wiping his eye. Nichole had leaned the candy cane pole against the wall, and stood there very frightened thinking The Joker was laughing because he thought the outfit was horrible. Tears were starting to leak out of her eyes, smearing part of the makeup on her face.

He grinned. "Oh **Candy**, why are you crying? You think I hate it_ hmmm?"_

He got close to her putting a hand on the wall next to her head, boxing her in.

Candy.

A new label thrown upon her.

Her new name to him.

"I must admit...I'm impressed-_da_h....and normally things don't impress me Nichole....I mean _Candy_." He laughed more, resting his forehead on hers, staring her dead in the eye as he laughed. She let out a nervous laugh. The look in his eye cause her heart to pick up double time. They were cold and dark and she became lost in them.

She felt her weight going into the wall behind her and her legs gave out. Her eyes closed involuntarily and she slipped into darkness. She could still hear his laughter those few moments she was conscious, but then she fainted, her mind too scared to allow her to stay awake.

The Joker caught Nichole before she fell to the ground. He dragged her dangling body towards the bed and threw her on it. Then he sat next to her passed out self. Examining her and her lovely, and actually quite sexy, costume. And he just laughed.

And laughed.

And laughed.

He was so glad he kept her alive. She was so entertaining. She was so funny. And now she could help him with both of his needs.

"Sexual Desires and Anarchy. What a lovely combination." he said through his laughter.

* * *

**Kait: **Here is a link to what Nichole's costume looks like.I looked it up and was like "PERFECT!" The only change is the blueish green at the bottom is going to be red and it has candy canes hanging off of it, as I described up there.

**h t t p : / / w w w . b u y c o s t u m e s . c o m / T e a – P a r t y – P r I n c e s s – A d u l t – C o s t u m e / 3 4 1 1 2 / P r o d u c t D e t a I l . a s p x** (Delete the spaces in this link when putting it into the URL thing to be able to view it)

And instead of the white leggings I decided that theses are the leggings that Nichole is wearing. I like them cause they have bows with candy canes in them.

**H t t p : / / w w w . b u y c o s t u m e s . c o m / C a n d y – C a n e – C h a r m – F I s h n e t – T h I g h – H I g h s – w I t h – B o w / 3 2 2 9 3 / P r o d u c t D e t a I l . a s p x** (Delete the spaces in this link when putting it into the URL thing to be able to view it)

**Meg:** Well way to take up the whole authors note KAIT!


	17. A Chance Not Taken

**Kait:** Ok, first off, im not sure if I was clear last chapter but Nichole passed out due to the fact she was so scared the Joker was going to kill her and embarrassed by the outfit she had on. The situation to her seemed so odd and crazy, her mind just took over her body.

**Joker:** See I don't get it, people seem to think every time I look at them I am going to kill them. Honestly am I that _uh_.....scary?

**Kait:** Yes....and oh. Yeah for some reason I couldn't get a hold of Meg so she didn't edit this chapter or do anything. I have no idea where she is....._(looks at the Joker)_ what did you do with her?!?!

**Joker:** _(throws hands up)_ See! Automatically everyone assumes I did it!

**Kait:** _(glares)_ Do forgive me but you tend to give off this "I am a badass mofo" Vibe. Anyways since Meg isn't here to beta me for this chapter. Do expect a lot of grammar mistakes! _(thumbs up)

* * *

_

**Chapter 17**

Nichole was awakened by the sound of a door opening. Her eyes shot open as she saw the Joker entered the room.

It was then she remembered she had passed out.

_Why did I pass out anyway?_ She thought as she sat up cross legged on the bed, watching as the Joker took her metal candy cane pole and examined it more closely in the light coming in through the boarded up windows.

_I had just....fainted in fear._ She concluded. The Joker had a look in his eyes like he was going to kill her. She felt ridiculous in the outfit, and embarrassed. And the Joker being that close to her frightened her as well. When his eyes are locked into hers, a feeling comes over her and her mind goes blank. She looked down realizing she still had her makeup and outfit on and her cheeks stained red with embarrassment for a brief moment. She still felt ridiculous and she didn't think that feeling was ever going to go away so long as she had the outfit on.

The Joker turned the pole side to side, carrying it over to the bed and then sitting down next to Nichole. "Did you get so inspired from when you hit that guy that was trying to kill me over the head with a metal pole, that you decided to take one shaped like a cane and turn it into a, uh weapon?"

Nichole shrugged.

The Joker raised an eyebrow. "Because if this is your only creative weapon of choice......" He paused, rephrasing what he was going to say. "You can't just go around swinging this at people."

"I don't want to swing it at people **period.**" She stated.

_Oh dear._

Being half asleep in the morning always caused her not to think before she spoke.

"I'm not going to attack people for you-" She heard a familiar clicking noise. Her body went numb as she saw he had his pocket knife in his hands. That dreadful clicking noise in itself was bad enough, but seeing the knife reflect the little light from the windows and glare into his eyes was even worse. He passed the knife back and forth between his hands, looking at Nichole in the corner of his eye grinning.

"_Sooooooooo_ why did yah, pick out a candy theme hmmm Candy?" He began running a finger on his knife's blade tracing the edges, but being careful not to press down to hard and break skin.

"I uh.....I-....I."

"What's wrong Candy....? Cat's got your tongue?" He said in a sing song voice

"First off, my name is Nicholenot Candy. So please don't call me that! And second, I chose a candy theme, because you always compared me to chocolate, and called me "sugar" or "delicious" or "toots" which whenever I hear I think of Tootsie Rolls. So that's why, I just figured that it would be a good idea." She said very irritated and without thinking to choose her words carefully.

Anything on her mind came out, which was bad. With the Joker opinions aren't to be said. Things he wants to hear are to be said. And Nichole fails at that concept during the mornings. The embarrassment on her face grew.

The Joker's knife was by her mouth instantly. He mimicked her. "First off, Yes your name is Nichole, but in making an....what some may call alter ego, you develop a name, and sometimes you loose yourself in the costume so much the name you gave yourself sticks with you. I'm just trying to help you get that into your head. I'm an agent of chaos, and us agents help corrupt things...like you." He laughed, slightly moving the knife upwards from his laughter and cutting a very tiny part of the inside of her mouth. She shut her eyes tightly, holding back the small scream rising in her throat.

She wanted to make sure she understood him correctly. "So your basically trying to corrupt my mind into thinking that this-" She pointed down at her outfit. "This....Candy alter ego of mine...is what I want to be....?"

He looked at the ceiling for a second as if in thought then looked back down at Nichole and nodded, letting out another laughing fit.

She rolled her eyes. "It's not going to work you know. Only I have control of my mind. You don't." She was so mad at him. But she was slowly starting to wake up, and realize that she was talking back to him a lot in the past few minutes, and maybe...._just maybe_ that wasn't such a good idea.

He lowered the knife to her neck and grabbed her chin with his other hand. "Oh I do Nichole...I really do." He laughed, tightening his grip, and Nichole let out a small yelp. "_But-tah_....if it makes you feel any better I will call you Nichole when we are alone, and then when you and I are out doing what us law ignorers do best, I will call you Candy. So the public knows of your _bea-uuuuu-tiful_ name."

She swatted his hand away from her face glaring at him. "I am not a criminal! You are forcing me to do things for you! I am being held here against my will!"

The Joker slapped her across the face, extremely hard.

Nichole brought both her hands up and covered her face letting out a cry of pain.

"Oh Nichole...what you don't realize is. One day. It may not be tomorrow or even this month. But one day, if you mange to stay alive and not get me angry, which I may point out you are doing a terrible job of this morning, but if you manage to do that....One day you will be a criminal. One day you will stay here on your own will, because Nichole....your mind isn't safe from me. No one is safe from me. You can try and run and hide from me, and escape, but-tah....." He licked his lips. "There is always something you will care about that I can destroy, until I have done so much that you are begging me to let you back."

Nichole glared in disgust. _What the hell was the Joker talking about? I would never **want** to be with him. I would never stay with him **VOLENTARLY**. I would never commit crimes for him voluntarily. He was just trying to play mind games with me! Trying to break me! But he will never get inside my mind. I'm stronger than that. Maybe I don't take well to physical pain, but I can stay strong in the mind if I try._

He smacked his lips together. "Now all this has gone _soooooo_ off topic, when I was trying to ask you a simple question." He walked over to the door, and bent down picking up a shopping bag and then sitting back down next to Nichole, the bag on his lap. "What is this stuff...?" He pointed to the bag reaching in it. Nichole immediately reached forward and grabbed it off his lap before he looked inside.

"Its just some things I bought yesterday shopping." She said, her face growing red, with the thought in her head that maybe the Joker would get mad at the small things she bought with the money he instructed her to waste.

He pouted his lips and raised an eyebrow. "Things?" He made quotation marks in the air. "Like what. Hand them over, I don't wanna find out you bought yourself a gun to shoot me down with while I sleep."

She sighed dumping the contents of the plastic bag onto her lap. The Joker reached over a grabbed a random object. "Shampoo? What a waste of money." He threw it behind him. It hit the wall then landed on the bed. Nichole reached behind where he sat and snatched it.

He took one object at a time, peering at it briefly, then muttering a rude little comment, like "Crap." "Waste" "Should be made illegal." "Who cares about oral hygiene?"

The last item on her lap was a book she picked out. He picked it up, examining the cover. "Crap!" He tossed it behind him, and Nichole caught it with much difficulty.

She couldn't resist it; she had to say it. "Didn't anyone ever tell you don't judge a book by its cover?"

"Yes, but I believe people don't stick with their own little sayings. If people didn't judge books by their covers, I could walk around Gotham City without having a head turn and glance at me, but the world isn't like that Nichole. And besides...." He took the book out of her hand forcefully. He got up and walked over to his desk, throwing the book into the overflowing trash can next to it. He picked up a newspaper article and walked back to Nichole giving it to her. "The only thing you SHOULD be reading is of my latest accomplishments and various adventures." He let out a sick laugh and sat back down next to her.

She rolled her eyes, and placed the article back on his lap. "No thank you..." She took all of the items she bought and put them back into the bag, and put the bag on the ground.

"Sooo. Do you think_ goooooorgous_, that...that-" He pointed to her candy cane pole. "Is going to be your weapon of choice? The things criminals will fear? No offense but-tah.....you're a little weak and might get tired of carrying it and drop it one of these times. And really do you even know how to swing properly, or was yesterday just a good shot?" He laughed nudging her side encouraging her to laugh too. She tried her best to fake a laugh but it came out as a nervous squeal. She cupped her hands over her mouth in embarrassment.

"Well I have a back up weapon...."

The Joker raised an eyebrow. "Your going to entertain someone to death?"

"No no no...I can just....kick my attacker." She stated flatly trying to wipe off the fear stained look in her eyes.

_I sound so stupid!_ Nichole thought.

The Joker interrupted grinning "-Or an innocent civilian."

She tried not to glare at him, and looked at the floor. "Yeah....well....I don't intend on attacking anyone..."

She did not even want to be thinking about killing someone. She was honestly a non violent person, and at the school she taught at she would always be the teacher that would have to break up the fights between the young teenage girls. The male teachers could handle the male fights. She wasn't quite strong enough too. Now with the possible chance to have to kill someone or at least attack them, she grew very nervous. She did not know what she would do if placed in a situation where she had to attack someone for the Joker. Yesterday was pure chance and luck she had hit the man over the head. She was not sure if she could mimick yesterday at any given time, especially under the pressure of knowing she would have to attack someone. Yesterday it was a spur of the moment thing.

The Joker thought for a moment, before nodding his head. "Well it will have to do for now.....But as for that stuff-" He pointed to the bag. "What do you think you are _living_ here?"

She heard the slight anger in his voice, and quickly explained. "Well...You told me to buy things to waste the money so...I just bought things so I could survive around here and not be so messy all the time." She felt like an idiot. The Joker wouldn't understand anything she told him, he'd just get mad. "I just need....my needs met." She cringed. That's not how she meant it to come out. She dared to open her eyes and look at the Joker. He gave her a confused look.

Before she could do anything he was on top of her, straddling her hips, his hands wrapped around her throat, tightening his grip as he spoke. "You think I don't meet you needs Nichole? Am I not changing my life style to suit you_ hmmmm?_" His eyes were dark and full of hate as he shot his anger into her. He leaned all his weight into her stomach, making her grunt. She started to thrash around trying to squirm out from underneath him, but the hold on her neck...and well the rest of her body kept her there.

Flashbacks started to pour into her head of what happened the last time she and the Joker were in this very position. The last time he was on top of her on the bed. She started to scream as the images took over her mind. She thrashed around now, not realizing the Joker had gotten off her. Her eyes shut tight, and she clawed at the air, and at her arms, cutting herself in various places. "**No stop! STOP! IT HURTS!"** She screamed thinking the cut marks she had just given to herself was the Joker.

The Joker didn't know what the hell to do, he stood by the bed, mouth hung open in shock. Here his little plaything was attacking herself, not knowing. He went to the foot of the bed, bending down by her face.

He did the only thing he thought logical to do in this situation.

He slapped her hard across the face. "Snap out of it!" He yelled.

She opened her eyes gasping, blinking a few times to adjust to the light. She looked up into the eyes of the Joker, who looked honestly confused.

"What the heck was that?" He said down to her, sweat droplets fell off his hair and on to her face, but she didn't notice.

She sat up leaning on her elbows, trying to catch her breath. "Sorry....I-...I just had flashbacks is all." She hoped he would leave it at that, but he didn't.

"O! O! Do _teeeellll._ Do tell of all the things you saw." He sat back on the bed and folded his hands on his lap, leaning in close to her faking interest and giving her his full attention. She had just screamed in pain and must have saw something really bad, and things like that are the Joker's best friend.

She didn't know what to say, if she told him the truth it might encourage him to redo what she had just saw in her head. If she lied he might be able to tell she's lying and then hurt her for lying. She blushed and just decided to tell the truth.

"I saw....you."

The Joker raised both his eyebrows and smacked his lips together. "Me? I was graced into one of your flashbacks?" He pointed to himself. "I feel so honored. Now what-tah.....was I doing?"

She spoke softly. "You were on top of me and you ra-...ra...ped me....." She looked at her leg, folding her arms around her stomach, which was sort of in pain from the pressure the Joker put on to it.

He laughed, falling backwards onto the bed laying down laughing his creepy laugh. His chest bobbed up and down at his odd laughs breathing pattern. He sat back up calmly. "I have no idea what you are talking about."

She glanced at him, confused even herself. "You raped me a few days ago."

He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "It's not rape if you enjoy it deary."

"How many times do I have to tell you I didn't enjoy it. It was the worst experience of my life." She shouted.

"You mean...experience**s**. You forgot to make the word plural. That wasn't a one time thing toots." He winked at her.

"If you even try...." She pointed at him. He grabbed onto her finger with his whole hand and bent it backwards, not to the point of breaking it, but pretty darn close. She squealed in pain. "OUCH! Ah! STOP STOP STOP!" She screamed.

"You will do what? You can't overpower me. You can't stop me. You think you can but you can't. You're just like The Batman. Both thinking they can understand me. Both thinking they can foil all my plans, but when are you going to realize no one can stop me. Chaos never dies, and me being an agent of it means I am indestructible." He grinned releasing her finger. She grabbed onto that finger rubbing it profusely. It was throbbing in pain.

They sat there for a few minutes. Nichole rubbing her finger, wanting to sit down and cry; While the Joker was thinking, his mind wandering to places. His mind digging for questions to ask the poor girl.

"Nichole...I asked you this question before, but I want a straight forward answer. I think we were both in shock when this happened so I didn't get an answer from you and I was ok with that, but..... Do you regret saving me? Do you regret hitting that guy over the head? Do you wish that you let him shoot me to death? Would you do the whole situation different?" He smirked, encouraging her to say an answer that would upset him.

_He just wants me to say what I really think! He wants me to tell him I sort of regret it so that he can attack me!_ She thought raging in her mind.

Now she really didn't know what to say. If she told him she regretted saving him, he would get angry. If she told him she doesn't regret it, it would give the impression she likes being captured by him. "I- um....I-"

"Oh come now." He patted her shoulder. "I promise I won't get mad....and I **am** a man of my word."

She sighed. "I...regret it, whenever you cause me pain." She stated, hoping that, that answer would be good enough to satisfy him and not anger him. "But I know if i hadn't saved you...I'd be dead too."

He licked his lips reaching in his pocket for a few seconds and then pulling out a gun. He looked at the gun a few times.

Nichole's eyes widened. _Oh fuck I must have angered him!_ She stood off the bed and backed away from him.

He looked at her, and beckoned her over. "Don't be afraid Nichole. I'm not going to hurt you." She walked over to him hesitantly. He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Now....its time to try and take all that anger you have for me, and use it."

He moved his hand down. She shut her eyes tightly, but opened them when she felt something in her hand.

She looked down.

The Joker put the gun in her hands. He grinned standing up and backing up from her. She turned herself to face him and he stood readying himself, as if he was on a sports team preparing to go. He spread his legs wide and hunched his back a little letting his arms dangle down. He kept his eyes locked on Nichole.

"Now...if you regret not letting me die..._just-tah_...shoot me Nichole. Shoot me right in the ole noggin." He tapped his head with his fist. He had a sick smile on his face and laughter was coming out every so often.

She looked down at the gun.

Then to him.

She wanted to. _Oh how I want to just shoot him right here right now! It would be so easy. He is giving me an open target, and it looked like he wasn't going to chicken out and move at the last second. But what would I do if I shot him? Run for it? But his men might see and try to get me...And knowing the Joker, this whole situation wasn't going to be so simple. He knows I hate killing and violence. And he wanted me to submit to him with it._

To escape the pain she would have to kill him. Take a life, to save her own.

_Self defense right?_ She thought, her mind buzzing a mile a minute. He had caused her so much pain, it would just be so easy to escape with one pull of the trigger.

She could.....

Just....

Pull...

The trigger.....

"I-....I can't." She lowered the gun looking at the floor, tears in her eyes. She couldn't stoop to his level. She couldn't kill him. She wanted to, but something held her back. The fear of knowing something bad would happen if she killed him. It could not be that easy. He was messing with her.

"Are you sure?" He laughed walking back over to her.

She nodded her head silently. She knew she would regret not pulling the trigger later on. Later on when he killed her.

He slide his hand into hers and took the gun back. He passed it back and forth between his two hands. He sighed and frowned. "Well what a shame. I thought you were going to do it actually for a second there." He admired the gun for a second. "Best not waste a good shot."

He grinned placing the gun into her shoulder. A spot right next to her heart. He grinned, watching her horrified look on her face. "Please...don't....i sparred your life right now..."

"**Sooo?** Many times you wouldn't believe it, but I sparred your life. Easily my anger could have killed you, but I held back all the times I have beaten you."

He pressed the gun into her more hard, making her yelp. "Please no..."

He rubbed the side of her face with his free hand. "Oh shush shush shush." He cooed to her. "You won't feel a thing..."

And then he pulled the trigger of the gun......


	18. Bank Robbing

**Kait:** Well I found her_ (drags Meg in by the ear)_

**Meg:** eh heh...yeah sorry guys, I was busy and never had a chance to go on the computer. I had like 12 messages from Kait asking where the hell was I.

**Kait:** _(face palms)_ Not again. Well I had left you with a cliffhanger so enjoy! And I think whenever the Joker and Nichole have criminal work to do I will be calling Nichole "Candy" in the 3rd person context.

* * *

**Chapter 18**

She heard the click of the gun. Her eyes shut tightly a she let out a piercing scream. She stood there for a few moments, before realizing that she wasn't in pain, and she never heard the gun fire, just the trigger being pulled.

She opened her eye to see the gun to see a tiny flag with the big words _"BANG!"_ on it was coming out of the bullet hole of the gun. Her mouth hung open, as a sigh of relief came over her. She looked at the Joker.

He was laughing, so hard he ended up dropping the gun on the floor. "Oh ho ho! You should have seen it! The look on your face!"

After the shock of her not being dead went away, she glared and the first thing on her mind popped out. "You tricked me!" She said pointing to him, stupidly.

"Well, uh, way to point out the obvious." He said, his laughter slowly stopping as he walked over to her.

"I-...I thought you were going to kill me!" She said, seeing the pure joy in his eyes.

He waved a hand in the air. "Oh ho nooooo. I wasn't going to kill you! If I was it wouldn't be with a gun. Do I even have to tell you my dislike of guns? They kill to fast. I'd kill you with this bad boy right here." He reached in his pocket pulling out a finely crafted knife, then placing it back in his pocket.

"But don't you see Nichole? You were never going to be able to kill me when I handed you that gun. My life wasn't in danger. I was just testing you. Trying to see if you would do it. Trying to see if you would kill me at the chance. But you didn't disappoint. You wouldn't even kill me if you had the chance." He laughed more, picking up the gun off the ground, pulling out the flag in it and throwing it across the room. "Why is that....do you not have the guts? Are you a coward? You just not the killing type?"

He threw all those questions at her so fast she just stuttered trying to find words.

"Well we will change that either way." He grinned. "But-tah...no more time for chit chat my deary. It's time to go." He opened the door and beckoned her over.

"Go...where?" She asked.

"I'll ask the questions not you got it?" She nodded her head. He pointed to her candy cane pole, "Oh and you will be needing that. It's time that Gotham got a taste of Candy." He laughed at his own joke, as Nichole grabbed the pole and walked over to him. He lead her out the door.

They walked close together, but not touching, outside and to the van. "Back seat this time." He told her as she went to go sit in the front seat. "Sorry to burst your bubble, but I ain't driving this time. On tasks that require more physically demanding stuff.....I let others drive me around."

Nichole hopped into the back seat, and the Joker followed sitting next to her. She didn't bother to put a seat belt on and neither did he. She put her pole on the car's floor and glanced out the window. A few other vans were being loaded up with the Joker's men all dressed in clown masks or had nylon over there faces. They all held guns. She cringed.

Everyone who worked for the Joker had weapons. All of them had guns, except two. The Joker and Nichole. They were "theatrical" and their weapons fit them. The Joker had his knives, and Nichole had a metal pole that looked like a candy cane.

_Oh I am so screwed!_

The car started to move. The Joker took out his knife and placed it on his lap, pulling his jacket's sleeve down, and then peering at Nichole. "Awh...are you scared? I wouldn't worry but_......_I should warn you _princess-sah_.......The first time tends to get a little....messy."

She gulped softly, turning her head to stare absently out the window. She knew whatever they were going to do would cause her to have to hurt people, or threaten people, something she didn't want to do. She was thinking of maybe some way she could get out. Some way that in the middle of whatever they were going to do she could escape and run to the police.

_But how stupid would that look, for someone dressed up in a candy-like outfit coming to the police saying "Help! The Joker kidnapped me a week and a half ago and now he is forcing me to do criminal works! Oh and by the by he raped me once too! So help me!" _She thought to herself, dismissing those thoughts away. _Yeah....I'll have to try and think of something else to say if I were to ever escape from him. And seriously that as a BIG **if.**_

They drove in silence for the next ten minutes. The Joker wanted to say more things to creep her out, but he had a lot on his mind; an example being what was going to happen in the next few minutes. He was planning out ever single possible thing that could go wrong and how he could turn it around and make it benefit him. He was a mastermind like that.

A thought came into Nichole's head.

She had to ask. "Won't people recognize me? Won't they see me and know its me, the kidnapped teacher. and then-......?"

"Honestly doll face, they aren't gonna figure it out. Your red eye makeup, is what everyone will be focusing on when you enter the room, not your eyes. But...I know people won't be able to tell its you because....When they see you, they won't automatically think its you. They won't see you and go "oh its Nichole!" no because people won't expect it. Its like....." He sighed rubbing his forehead, smudging his white makeup. "If a friend of yours were to be dressed up in a wig and walking down the street, but you didn't know it was her....You wouldn't assume as soon as you saw her that it was your friend. Your mind doesn't work that way."

"Well I can see that normally, but its been in the media that you kidnapped me, so people might make the connection." She stated. She didn't want people to recognize her and then think she was insane like the Joker. People if they recognized her might think she was helping him willingly. His partner. They wouldn't know it was by force.

"Don't worry Nichole." He stroked the back of her head with his gloved hand. Nichole sat there in shock at this semi kind and comforting gesture. "No one will recognize you...and if they do-" He tightened his grip on her hair yanking her by the fistful of hair backwards, throwing her head up exposing her neck. His kind gesture was over. With his other hand he placed the knife on the bare skin.

He brought his mouth by her ear and whispered in a husky voice. "And if they do.....that won't change anything will it?"

"No, no i-i-i-it won't." Her voice was shaky from the shock of the quick motion he had done.

_God he could bring a knife to a person's throat faster than a speeding bullet_. She cringed.

He let go off her hair, and patted the back of her head.

"Good."

She leaned her head forward again, cracking her neck to relieve the kinks in it, letting out a satisfied groan.

The van stopped outside "Gotham City Bank". Nichole's eye widened as she turned to the Joker.

The words just flew out of her mouth before she could stop them "We are robbing a bank? Why?!"

He let out a low growl in his throat irritated. "I believe I told you I ask the questions around here....but if you must know. You remember the meeting with the mob you attended with me?"

She nodded her head. "Yes of course...." The day she saved his life. The day she regrets.

"Well, for their little killing attempt, I intend to pay them back for their kinda gesture, and "borrow" whatever is left of their money. I hear they got a lot of money back from a recent drug selling they did, so I just want to use there money for my own personal gain." He laughed.

She groaned. "That's just going to make them more mad."

He glared at her taking her face in both his hands. She tensed up her eyes showing extreme fear.

"Opinions in my eyes are-_rah_....useless and should be kept to ones self. And my advice to you doll face, would be today you should be seen and not heard. Get it?" He emphasized all his "T's" in the sentence licking his lips one he finished.

"S-s-sorry." As she spoke she felt his hold on the sides on her face with his hands tighten.

He shook his head. "A ta-ta." He took one hand off her face and placed it by his mouth mimicking a zipping up a zipper motion. "Seen and not heard. Voices can be recognized deary and I believe they could compare your voice on the security tape in the bank to the security tape in Wayne manner from the day I got you and prove its you. So follow my advice and everything will move along _smoothly-yah_........"

He patted her head and then took her wrist opening the car door and getting out dragging Nichole along with him. They walked closer and closer to the bank doors with much speed. Nichole's heart was pounding so fast as they opened the bank doors and pilled in.

The Joker let go of Nichole, and nudged her side saying so only she could hear. "And act more....unique and not like you are a hostage. Put on a show for the world to see doll."

She took a tighter hold on her candy cane pole, as the Joker fired a gun in the air. Everyone in the bank turned around in shock, then seeing who had the gun in his hands screamed. Screamed so loudly.

Nichole tried not to look frightened and put a blank facial expression on. She glanced down at herself in the floor which showed her reflection. She looked like a freak in the outfit and makeup.

_But hey, its just what the Joker wanted_. She sighed.

She kept the bottom of the candy cane pole on the ground and walked closer to the Joker; maybe about five feet away from him.

The other men in clown masks began walking around, tying people's hands up. "Alright now everyone stay down and if so well as see someone try to call the cops I will kill you all!" one shouted at everyone.

The Gotham civilians all began to squat on the ground hiding their faces in their knees, or clinging to their family members. Nichole could see a few children in the bank hugging their mothers or fathers tightly and crying, no doubt scared shitless, but they had every right to be scared. It was the freaking Joker! His look in itself could scare anyone, and today the Joker had made extra effort to make sure his makeup was on correctly and spokey.

The men now started pulling the bank tellers away from their booths by dragging them over. The Joker looked at Nichole and quietly nodded his head towards a free bank teller. Nichole got the message and walked over to a free bank teller. She stopped in front of his booth, he was an elderly man his hands thrown in the hair, thinking she had a gun or something.

The old man had glasses, but in the shock of hearing the gun fired off they dropped off his eyes, so he really couldn't see. Which was a good thing, because if he saw Nichole standing there he would be very confused, because she didn't look intimidating. She was actually standing there in front of him, letting a few tears come out, and she looked extremely nervous.

The man quietly said. "Please don't drag me over this. I- I- Have a bad hip."

She grabbed onto the collier of his shirt bringing her mouth by his ear and whispered. "I am so sorry about this." Her voice shaky in fear. Nichole tried to as best she could drag him over the teller booth and onto the ground without hurting him. It actually hurt her arm to do this movement, because to make sure he didn't get harmed she dragged him over the booth very slowly, so the weight was on her forearm for quite some time.

She could feel the Joker watching her and decided to add in for her benefit when she got the man on the ground kneeling, "And stay down!" she said in a forceful voice, but she was sure the Joker would be able to her the sadness in her voice. She didn't do that good of job at hiding it, but to the average citizen who was in the bank fearing they might be killed, they probably wouldn't have picked up on that.

"Candy get over here!" the Joker said in a sing songy voice. It took her a moment to realize he had addressed her as Candy. She had to accept this name in public. Right now she wasn't Nichole. Right now she was Candy.

Nichole, "Candy" walked over to the Joker standing a few feet in front of him. "Isn't she just so uh, wonderful everyone? Say hello to Candy!" He pinched her cheek playfully to the naked eye, but really he was pressing down hard on her face; The side of her face that had alreadly been bruised a few days ago from the hard slap he gave her across the face.

"Stop testing my temper. Do this_ right-tah_." He hissed into her ear. She shuddered at the pure evil sounding in his voice and felt goosebumps slowly start to appear on her forearms.

The other men had gone into the back grabbing bags full of money and were now dragging the bags to the front lobby area where everyone else was. "That's the last bag boss" one of the men said throwing the bag to the ground to rest his tired arms.

In total there were only five bags. Quite a little amount compared to previous raids of the mob's money, but as the Joker had said the mob was basically pretty poor at the moment.

"Good good." the Joker said counting the bags one last time. He put his gun in his pocket. Candy clung to her candy cane pole tightly to try and stop her nervous shaking.

All the sudden a loud "Freeze drop your guns all of you!" followed by a gun shot. Everyone looked and saw five bank guards guns drawn entering the room from the bank office area. One of the Joker's men had out of pure habit fired his gun, and hit one the bank guards in the chest instantly killing him. Candy's eyes widened as she dashed to cover behind a desk. The Joker re-pulled out his gun and ducked behind a chair firing on and off at the guards.

The rest of his men began firing as well, causing the cops to fire back. Candy sat there freighted as a mouse clinging to her pole, gun shots kept going off making her ears hurt. The Joker glanced at her while he was reloading his gun. Pure fire was in his eyes. He was pissed that she wasn't doing anything to help. But she wasn't going to. Guns were involved and her only weapon was a metal pole, she would become mince meat if she stood up.

She heard a thud to the other side of her, and had to clamp her hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming as she saw one the Joker's men had been shot and killed. The man's gun slid when he hit the ground and was within reach of Candy. She hesitated but leaned to the side, exposing her arm away from the carefully hidden desk and grabbing the gun.

The gun firing had stopped now, making Candy a tad bit confused. She slowly stood up, holding the gun behind her back. She saw the Joker and two of his men with their hands up, there guns were on the ground. She looked harder and realized they were out of bullets.

Only one bank guard was left, the rest were on the ground shot to death. The floor was begining to look like a red pool of blood. The last guard was pretty shaken up but held his gun up pointing it at the three criminals. Candy walked forward a bit the guard pointed the gun at her. jumping a bit at seeing her move. In fact any movement the four of them did would cause the guard to point to gun at them.

"Stop what your doing and hands up!" he yelled at her.

"Did anyone ever tell you not to shout at a lady like that?" The Joker giggled. He lowered his hands and now crossed his arms, acting as if the gun in the guard's hands had no effect on him. The Joker began to literally skip towards the guard slowly, cracking his neck as he came closer.

"No talking and back up away from me! I want all of you to go over and stand by that wall!" The guard reached down in his pocket to grab his cell phone.

The Joker lept forward knocking the guard to the ground. They both struggled to try and get the gun from one another. The guard, who obviously was a smart one was able to punch the Joker in the stomach and take complete control of the gun. Joker knelt on the ground rubbing at his stomach and instead of groaning in pain he was having himself a laughing fit. The guard pressed the gun into the Joker's head. "Stand up now!" He yelled to him.

The Joker stood up letting an irritated sigh, "I feel bad for your girlfriend if you have one. Your so, uh what's the word I'm looking for....... controlling!" The Joker laughed more, but the guard didn't stop pressing the gun into the Joker's head. The two of them had a little bit of blood on their hands form the blood of the dead cops being on the floor.

"Y-you killed my friends." the cop yelled to him.

The Joker clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "I tend to do that.....flat foot." He was grinning ear to ear literally. "But just think of it this way, you have a better chance to be promoted in your job.....less competition. Ha!" He licked his lips.

The guards face grew redder with anger. She thought he was going to shoot the Joker at any moment now. But what if after he did shoot the Joker, if his anger caused the guard to shoot everyone of the Joker's men......and woman. She was the only one with a gun, and again it seemed the choice was up to her whether to let the Joker live or not.

If The Joker kept saying things to the guard about his dead cop friends, which he would, and actually was at the moment, the guard would kill them all.

"Yanno i have the sudden urge to go swiming." The Joker stated, looking down at the blood. "It seems your friends have enough blood spilling out on the ground to allow me to swim in it!" He slaped his knee in laughter. The guard now had tears in his eyes. Tears of anger and loss.

_Yup the guard was deffinatly going to kill the Joker._

"I could do it you know." The guard growled. "I could send you and your little girlfriend to hell where you belong!" The guard started shaking even more in absolute rage.

"What's stopping you? Laws? Is it written in your job description that you can not shoot us? What a stupid law!" The Joker laughed.

"THAT'S IT!" The Guard's gun was against the side of the Joker's head at this point. "I am going to kill you. And i will watch you bleed to death and enjoy it. Then I'll kill your Candy over there, so you will have company in the depths of hell you will live in!"

Candy took the gun out from behind her back and raised it. She had never carried a gun before in her life and was surprised about the way it felt. Rather smooth and warm feeling, after all it had been fired a few times. She didn't want to think about whether this gun she held had killed the cops, or whether it had been a different one.

The cop holding the gun to the Joker was too busy glaring and debating on whether sending the Joker to hell to notice what Candy was doing. She shook a bit in her spot still in thought.

She whispered silently. "God please forgive me."

And then she pulled the trigger. Now she isn't gonna lie but she had really good aim. She intended and ended up shooting the guard in the leg. He fell to the ground holding his leg in pain, but quickly tried to get his gun in position to shoot the Joker.

Candy ran full speed at him with her candy cane pole in one hand and whacked him as hard as she could in the back of the head. He let out a groan, before falling to the ground knocked unconscious.

The Joker peered down at the knocked out cop, and dusted his shoulders off, winking at Candy.

She looked down at the cop horrified at what she had just done. Sure she didn't kill him, but she had hurt him. It would require surgery.

She began to bend down by the cop to see if he was still breathing, when she felt someone pick her up by under her arm pits and begin to walk out of the bank with her held up a few feet above the ground. She could tell it was the Joker just by the way he smelled. Makeup and smoke, and dirt.

He got to the van, his men throwing open the back door and shoving the money into the van. The Joker nodded his head at them, and then proceeded to shoot them all with the gun still in Candy's hands. Candy jumped in the passenger seat, not wanting to see all those men die. She buried her face in her hands and rested it on the dashboard so ashamed of herself. She hurt a cop, she robbed a bank. Well she hurt the cop to save her own skin, but still.

Originally in her life she vowed never to fire or even pick up at that matter a gun. Against violence and anything that caused harm to others, but here she was firing a gun into a guards leg.

_What would happen to him? What if the cops don't show up in time and he dies of blood loss? What if his family can't afford to pay the medical expense? _The questions rang through her head.

She got lost in thought and didn't hear the Joker hope into the van and start to drive. Only when he patted her back, no more like slapped her back and began to have another one of his laughing fits, did she realize he was with her.

"Oh ho ho Nichole that was brilliant! I gotta hand it to ya kid I had my doubts you would do anything, but you didn't disappoint!" He laughed slapping his hands on the sides of the steering wheel.

"Oh what, now I'm back to Nichole in your eyes?" She glared at him leaning back in her seat.

He kept his eye on the road shrugging. "I told ya doll face, when were in public we go with your criminal name. Candy. When its just us, its your real name, but one day it will just be Candy. That one day when your mind gets broken. I hope its soon, the suspense is killing me! Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

She stared dejectedly out the window. "I can't believe I-" She couldn't finish the sentence. Nichole shook her head in shame.

"You wanna know what? I can't believe it either, but-" He grabbed her chin with one gloved hand, taking his eye off the road and looking at her. "You did good, a few times I had to coax you in the right direction but overall not bad for your first time." He gave her a smile for about two seconds, and something was strange about that smile.

It wasn't his normal evil looking smile, but actually an honest one, but it disappeared just as quickly as it came.

* * *

**Kait:** There ya are. Honestly did you think I would have made the Joker seriously injure Nichole this early on? _(rolls eyes)_ Hehe okay a few things. The quote from my story: "I should warn you _princess-sah _The first time tends to get a little messy." Is a quote from Freddy Krueger in **A Nightmare on Elm Street **(Well the actual movie is **Freddy vs Jason**, but its in the Nightmare on Elm Street series so whatever).


	19. Eye Candy

**Kait (Reedit note):** ATTENTION! **SYDNEY** EDITED THIS CHAPTER! THIS CHAPTER IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ON THE IMPORTANT SCENE. Praise go to her for her marvelous editing skills and spicing up a scene that i completely failed at =) Sydney is my beta for chapters above 29 or 30 i forget, but she wanted to come back to this chapter and help me out with it_

* * *

_

**Chapter 19**

The two drove silently in the van, back to the Joker's house. The bags of money piled in the back were sliding back and forth on the van's floor on every sharp turn they would make. Of course anything would go flying with the Joker driving. He acted as if the road was just a "guide line" and he more or less drove on the sidewalks, or right dab in the middle of the road. Thankfully they were back roads so no one was really around to witness his driving skills.

They reached home within five minutes, faster than it took them to reach the bank. The Joker got out first and opened the van's back doors. Nichole followed behind him, still in a slight state of utter shock.

He suddenly threw her a bag of money. She wasn't expecting it so it hit her right in the chest throwing her backwards onto the ground.

"Oomft!" She landed with the bag of money laying flat out ontop of her.

"_G-g-g-_get it off of me! _N-n-_need air-_r-r!"_ She stammered.

The Joker looked down at her and rolled his eyes. "I think you need to work out those muscles. Can't having you work for me with muscles that are like sponges." He reached down picking up the bag, and Nichole crawled out from underneath it. He dropped that bag and then another bag to the ground.

She rubbed her chest with her hands. "And I think you need to learn, that the element of surprise and me do not get along quite well." She never knew money could hurt.

The Joker turned towards her raising a hand as if he was going to say something to her, but he just turned back towards the three bags of money in the van and began to sling them over his shoulder carelessly.

Nichole looked down at the two bags on the ground then to the Joker. He didn't seem to be in pain or struggling with the three bags of money he had in his hands.

_He must be stronger than he looks._ She thought absently. Well sure Nichole knew he was strong, well at least stronger than her, but being able to carry three bags load of money without it even showing signs of struggle or dropping them is a feat in her eyes.

He sighed, turning around and looking at her empty hands. "Do I have to spell it out for you Nichole? Do I honestly need to go upstairs grab a can of_ Alphabet Spaghetti O's_ and **SPELL** it out for you?"

She gulped at the harsh sarcastic tone he gave her, then reached down and took the straps of the bags of money. She slung them over her shoulders like a purse.

She stood up straight lifting the bags.

They were pretty heavy and she had to place a hand on the van to keep herself from falling from the sudden weight change on her shoulders.

The Joker licked his lips rolling his eyes once more. "There my smart girl! Bravo!" He added sarcastically.

"Honestly how are you a teacher Nichole? You are very slow sometimes." He snickered as he headed into the house. He threw open the door, dropping the bags of money in the hallway. Nichole followed slowly behind him, struggling to keep herself from dropping the bags too early. Once she was fully in the house, she gave up on trying to place them where the Joker had his bags and just put them down off to the side by the door.

She stood up straight letting out a groan, stretching the kinks in her back out.

The Joker couldn't help but laugh at her displaying how weak she was compared to him. He bit the inside of his lip, and glanced at the clock on the wall.

He let out a gasp, then jumped up. "Nichole! We are going to be _uh.... _LATE!"

"Late? Late for what?"

He grabbed her by the waist, making her gasp and then he threw her across the room. Nichole shrieked at the top of her lungs putting her hands out in front of her to prepare for impact. Her heart lept in surprise when she hit the couch softly. She had landed on the couch in the "living room" area of the headquarters. She looked it over once more, and saw its ratty and matted cushions were torn everywhere and had stuffing coming out here and there. It held many stains, that she did not want to know what or whom it came from.

The Joker did a little dash for the couch after that and landed right next to Nichole. She scooted over as far as possible away from him, but he shot out and wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her right up against him.

"Oh no no no no deary. You will want to see this. More like **I **want to see your face." He giggled reaching with his other hand in the cracks of the sofa.

After a few moments of searching furiously, he found the remote, and pressed the red power button. The television came on, and it was on a Porn channel. Nichole blinked, gasped and then looked at the Joker, who had almost the same facial expression on his face. He looked down at her as he quickly changed the channel. He put the clicker on the side table and rubbed the back of his neck, looking embarrassed. If he didn't have the white makeup on, she would swear he'd be blushing.

"Don't look at me...I don't normally watch TV....Must be my boys." He told her, and then muttered something like, "I will kill those men of mine. Buying pay-per-view porn. Tsk. Waste of money!"

She couldn't help but laugh.

It was a very laughable situation.

The Joker was embarrassed and had shown that emotion quite clearly to her whether he would admit it or not.

_Embarrassed that I would think he'd watch porn!_ She laughed inside her mind, feeling a bit awkward.

He didn't strike her to be that type of person, not because of what was on the televison, but for him to watch TV in generally was very odd sounding to her. He didn't ever really sit still, so sitting down and watching stuff would and might be hard for him to do. He would rather go out and make buildings turn into rumble, or steal money! Yes much more exciting then watching the lastest gossip on _Entertainment Tonight._

She sat there, with his arm around her waist. The side of her body closet to him being pressed against the side of his. She kept her arms crossed, making sure her elbow didn't touch the side of the Joker. She also did this because she didn't want the Joker to try anything with her hands and try to grab them.

The Joker squeezed the chunk of hip his hand rested on. "Watch the television! You will like what you see!" He giggled.

She glanced over at the television.

_The Five O'clock news channel music started to chime. A women reporter in her early twenties and a man reporter in his late forties were on the screen._

"_Good evening Gotham City, This is Eric Walker reporting."_

"_And I'm Veronica LaTina, breaking news tonight. It seems The Joker is back to his usual tricks here folks."_

Nichole gulped. _Oh god, please don't say it- _She thought to herself.

"_That's right Veronica. It seems the Joker has robbed Gotham City Bank, and took what is reportedly the Mob's personal money source. Our reporter Amanda Servino is on the scene."_

_The screen flashed over to another women also in her twenties at the Gotham City Bank holding a microphone in front of her face._

"_Yes hello there Veronica. I am standing here at Gotham's bank, where the Joker just moments ago robbed. Apparently the Joker ran into trouble here and five bank guards who were at the back offices of the bank when the Joker first came here, heard the noises and came to investigate. A gun battle happened between the Joker, his men, and the five guards, and unfortunately the Joker won. The five guards were all shot, four of them have died one is in the hospital."_

The one in the hospital. The one Nichole shot in the leg and knocked over the head.

"_But the strange part of all this is the Joker was accompanied by a female criminal, wearing a very odd candy themed outfit, and the Joker kept referring to her as "Candy". It is in question and suspected that this "Candy" is a new member of the Joker's criminal team, but more closer to the Joker due to the fact, the Joker addressed her with a name, instead of the usual nameless henchmen, and this women was dressed up theatrically."_

Nichole's mouth fell open. She was just waiting for them to make the connection between the kidnapped teacher report and the Candy report. A sweat appear on the back of her neck, and she didn't realize it but she slumped over, not sitting up straight and was now leaning her weight into the Joker's side.

As for the Joker, well he was having a field day. He watched the news report with her, but he was also glancing over every so often to check out Nichole's facial expression and it didn't disappoint. It was hilarious!

"_It was said the women did not speak once, expect when dragging a bank teller over the booth, and also letting out a scream of rage when she hit the only surviving guard over the head with her candy cane metal pole weapon."_

Nichole's mouth fell open more. _I screamed in rage when I did that?_ She questioned herself. She didn't remember doing that, but then again she might have been so caught up in the moment she could have done or said anything and she wouldn't remember.

"_Another strange thing is after she hit the guard over the head, the citizens here say she had a horrified expression on her face and looked like she was about to lean down and check if the guard was ok, but the Joker actually lifted her up and carried her out of the bank. We here have the security tape of the robbery seen here. Be advised the images are disturbing."_

_The screen flashed to the security tape. Showing the Joker, Nichole and the Joker's men all enter. It was bad graphics and the facial expressions on everyone couldn't be made out perfectly, but the movements could be. It showed Nichole dragging the teller over the booth._

She almost felt like crying watching herself do that, but she had to admit in that outfit and in the tape, one wouldn't be able to tell it was Nichole.

_The tape showed the rest of the gun battle, and then to Nichole shooting the cop in the leg. Sure enough when Nichole ran over to hit the guy over the head she let out a scream of rage. The tape ended with all them leaving. The screen went back to the two reporters in the news station._

"_Thank you Amanda for that story, and we wish to warn you all again that if you ever see the Joker on the street or in a building, get away from there as fast as you can and call the Gotham City police. This man is armed and dangerous, and now it seems he has more tricks up his sleeve than ever. I mean come on, escaping from jail twice?" the man said turning to his co-anchor._

"_Well certainly something needs to be done about this and fast." She stated. "And in other news today the stock market seems to be crashin-"_

The Joker flicked the television off, turning to Nichole, licking his lips.

"You wanna know something?....." He leaned his face in closer. Nichole tried to lean to her other side to get farther away from him, but he crept a hand up behind her head and pulled her face in closer.

"When I was at the bank and I saw you doing all that criminal work, it really made me think you looked quite...how do I put this, hot_-tah_.....But watching you on the television screen doing that....its **intoxicating**. It really....turns...me on_-nah._"

Before she could react, he smashed his lips on to hers, running his tongue over her lips and trying to squeeze it between her upper and bottom lips, demanding entrance to her mouth. She squirmed in his arms, but his hand on her head was locked in position, and try as she may, he wasn't going to budge.

Her lips felt sore and her mouth felt strained, and to relieve the pain she gave up and let his serpent tongue into her mouth. It rushed in faster than a speeding bullet and traced every inch of the inside of her mouth. He played with her tongue encouraging her to fight back.

Her anger grew in her and she just let her tongue lash at the Joker. It was like wrestling inside her mouth. Their tongues hit and bash into each other and the Joker was grinning this whole time. Nichole could tell because his scars, which were pressed into her face moved upwards as he smiled.

She glared at him and her eyes seethed at his black makeup.

She knew she had let him win by fighting back with the only weapon she had, her tongue. Gross as it is she did feel good to let out her anger by thrashing it about at his.

He sat upwards, grabbing her chin now (with the hand that was originally snaked around her head) and pulling her face into his by her chin. He was sitting now on his knees on the couch and began to lean forward into her, causing Nichole to slowly lean backwards.

As soon as she began to realize what he was doing, it was too late.

He was on top of her on the couch. He crushed his body into her ribcage as his tongue was still perfectly fitted in her mouth. She tried to hit his chest with her hands, when she realized they were both pinned underneath him.

_Dammit!_

They sat there tongue wrestling for about a good ten minutes. The Joker leaned upwards taking his chest off her, quickly removing his jacket, followed by his vest. He threw both articles of clothing on the floor beside the couch. He began to work on his tie.

Nichole felt her heart pounding in her ears. _No.. not again!_

She quickly leaned up on her elbows and tried to wiggle out from underneath him. He immediately saw what she was doing and slammed one gloved hand down on her chest to hold her down while with his other hand he continued to work on his tie. He made sure to lean as much of his body weight on her as possible as her arms gave and she fell back down on her back. His hand was on her left breast and pressing down pretty tightly. Giving her a toothy grin, he squeezed roughly.

She shut her eyes tightly while groaning in pain. She started clawing at his hand, frustrated that his gloves prevented her from doing any damage to him.

"Now listen babe..." He started. "This would be a whole lot easier if you just stopped all this denial to your true feelings about me." He smirked, winking at her.

"Get the hell off of me!" She grunted as spat in his face. He finally worked his tie off before grabbing both of her arms and using his knees to support himself up. Nichole let out a yelp of pain as he sat back down straddling her, with her arms trapped under her knees.

She felt her face grow hot as she looked at him with her pleading tear brimmed eyes. She _knew_ this was going to happen and _nothing_ was going to stop him. Her arms were her most useful shield and now he took away the ability for her to move them.

He grinned at her, sadistically as his tongue licked the spit that landed in the corner of his mouth. "Oh, come on babe," he said while he unbuttoned his shirt and took that off as well, "You know it's not that bad… I've already had you before and you were already 'unwrapped' when I found you." He chuckled. He then began to work at his belt before undoing his pants.

"Oh God!" Nichole cried as the tears escaped her eyes and her lips trembled. Her arms were numb at this point and she was sure that they were bruised.

While he still managed to hold her down, he slid his pants off.

She laid there in horrified thought of what was going to happen, and she wished it would just be over and done with. The suspense made her nerves high, her forehead was sweating, and she felt very sick to her stomach. She was going to have to relive the pain and suffering that is known as rape.

He slowly eased the pressure of his knees off of her arms as leaned back to the position of laying down on top of her. He grinned wickedly at her as he reached around to the back of her and unzipped her Candy dress. It zipped down right to the bottom so it came right off. He let his hands linger as he reached around undoing her bra. She stared at the ceiling biting her lips, trying not to let the water works out.

She was absolutely petrified and paralyzed all over. She knew that he would not hesitate to wrap his strong arms around her neck and choke her to death if she resisted.

_Come on Nichole, you're gonna get through this_ She sobbed hopelessly to herself. _It won't last forever, it will be alright. Just st-_

She turned her head to the side as the Joker trailed his mouth down her newly exposed chest. She groaned as he roughly fondled and used his teeth to try to get her to scream. She brought her hands lightly over her chest when he moved his hands to her thighs and slide off her leggings slowly. His hands traveled back up her creamy white legs and caressed them softly. He positioned himself so either one of her legs was on either side of him.

He laid fully back down on her letting his mouth travel on her neck. His warm tongue felt awkward on her goose bump skin. She felt his groin harden on her inner thigh, and began to breathe heavy out of nerves. She was literally trembling.

She savored this moment that her womanhood was bare.

"Please...don't do this." She whispered to him as her ear was by her mouth.

He lifted his head up slightly and looked down at her and smirked while sliding a hand up over her right breast. His eyes were filled with that dangerous glow and lust. "Nichole, when are you going to learn? I can do anything. This is my city, and you my babe...belong to me." He said in a deep strained voice.

She felt a chill down her spin as he said that. She felt the tears begin to build up in the corners of her eyes. She wouldn't let him do this, but he did....

He entered her once again, and it did hurt. She let out a gasping moan as he groaned into her neck. His grip on her breast tightened mercilessly. He began to thrust himself back and forth into her slowly, taking his time.

She couldn't take it.

He loosened up his grip on her and she took this moment to try and escape from his hold once more. This time she, and honestly she had no idea how she managed to do this, but she brought her legs up and literally kicked him out of her and off of her.

She slide off the couch and tried to crawl away sobbing and screaming over and over again, "No!"

She felt something suddenly around her neck; her whole body was being pulled back while she crawled. She then realized the Joker's belt was wrapped around her neck and the Joker held either end of the belt pulling her backwards.

She felt her back side hit the Joker's thighs and her eyes went wide. He got down on his knees and threw the belt. It slid across the hard floor, landing a little distance from the door.

He grabbed both her legs with each of his hands and pulled her up so she was on all fours. He pushed her bottom into him and continued what he started on the couch, laughing manically. He tightened his grip on her inner thighs.

She screamed loudly; this hurt even more than it did on the couch. She felt bile rise to her mouth. She felt so embarrassed and sick to her stomach. He was doing her doggie style. A mad and wild dog is now what she would also compare him too.

He thrusted harder, laughing more. "You've been a bad girl." He chanted to her in his husky voice. "That's why I'm teaching you a lesson or two! Ha Ha!"

"No! Stop!" She screamed at him, trying to use her hands to claw the ground, hoping it would drag her away. A few of her nails even broke in the process as she still continued to dig into the floor to crawl away while he did her.

She grunted and groaned every time he entered her again and again. She cursed at herself as her tears picked up again. To her, being raped by the Joker was like having a pipe, a FILTHY, rusted, pipe being mercesslessly shoved into her again and again, bruising her insides.

"Oh God! STOP THIS!" she screamed. She was seething so much that her saliva was hitting the ground.

The Joker simply ignored her as he moved one of his hands and smacked her one cheek as he roughly groped it. Large puffs of breath were coming out of him as he groaned. Nichole then felt his hot, sweaty body lean forward on her back. She could feel an imprint of sweat on her back. Her ears tingled as he made his awful sounds into her ear now as he continued to move into her.

She clenched her fists tightly as her forearms laid on the ground and sunk her teeth into her lip.

She then had an idea.

_Wait for it..._ She told herself…

She then felt fresh air on her now soaked back as he leaned up slightly.

_Now!_

Nichole took one of her arms and rammed her elbow as hard as she could into the Joker's unexpected stomach.

"Oomff!" The Joker gasped as her elbow balanced off of his diaphragm and literally knocked the wind out of him. His body started faltering to the side, on the verge of crashing down.

Nichole took this opportunity to scramble away from him.

_Get to the door! Get to the door!_ She screamed to herself as she was in the process of braking out of her crawl to run. She let out a gasp when she skinned her knee on the hard wood floor but sucked it up with a breath of air as she got to her feet and dashed to the door. Her heart leapt and the blood ran in her ears with her shot of adrenaline.

Before she could get a full grip on the door knob, two strong and rough arms wrapped themselves around her stomach and she screamed as she felt herself being lurched backwards. Her scream caught in her throat though as her wind was now knocked out of her. The Joker spun her and himself around before letting his body weight crush her to the ground.

Nichole yelped as her right shoulder smashed into the ground as she landed on her right side with the Joker on top of her. She felt herself devoured by his heat and sweat.

Acting quickly, the Joker leaned up, and dug his nails into her left shoulder as he flipped her over on her back. He saw Nichole was still dazed from the look in her eyes and that she was still catching her breath. He then grabbed a hold of her legs and bent her knees up on either side of his abdomen.

Nichole was still in the process of catching her breath when he lowered his pelvis, and penetrated her again. She could only let out a gasping moan as a way of releasing her pain. He supported himself up and over her with his forearms as he laughing in her pain stricken face.

"Did you really think that I am going to make this easier for you, Nichole?" He growled, letting the most terrifying smile play across his smeared face. "You should know by now: I always get what I want!" He let out another fit of laughter without breaking his pace.

Nichole groaned and shook her head back and forth. "No…" she whispered. She started to claw at his chest (which was hard since he was still leaning closely over her). After he tried to crush her hands with his chest, she moved her hands on either side of her head, arching her back in absolute pain.

That was when she saw it.

The Joker's belt!

It was lying a good meter behind her. She knew she had to try.

Ignoring her agony, she stretched her arms out behind her and reached. The movement of her arms caused the Joker to take even more advantage of her not restisting him so he leaned further into her, causing her to slide a few inches across the floor and closer to the belt. She grunted; the belt was now less than two inches from her aching fingers.

She quickly looked back at him and saw that his blacked eyes were squeezed tightly shut as he sunk his teeth into his lip. His head was on the side of hers.

He was cleary enjoying himself to much to realize what she was striving to do.

She groaned as she reached and reached while he kept raping her. She turned her palms into the floors hard surface and tried to use her hands to move her up more. The Joker used her arms not being in his way (but still not seeing where they were headed) to his advantage by (with his eyes still closed) leaning his head back and tracing her nipple with his tongue.

Nichole screamed when he sunk his teeth, not caring how much it would hurt her, in her nipple, still flicking it with his tongue inside of his mouth. She groaned as she felt him try to suck the life out of her entire breast; her arms involuntarily slid back down limply so her elbows were bent.

In a desperate attempt to get him off, Nichole tried to bend her knee, and kick his hip. The Joker caught on to what she was doing, as it was breaking his pace, and grabbed her shin and swiftly moved her leg over his left shoulder.

The room was filled with Nichole's piercing screams of agony; with this position, he was able to penetrate her deeply and fully force his length into her with every stroke.

He let out a groan of satisfaction, his eyes still squeezed shut. "I like it better this way."

Nichole screamed and groaned as it was almost impossible to get the crook of her knee of his shoulder. Aside from this position being more pleasurable for the Joker, it made it nearly impossible for Nichole to kick and struggle.

The Joker laughed as she cried. In her final desperate attempt, she reached and reached for the belt, praying her arm would stretch out to reach it.

Suddenly, she felt her fingers touch the strap. She let out a loud groan as she reached out with her left aching arm and grabbed the belt into her fingers. She then brought her hand back down and let out a scream of rage as she whipped the belt, buckle first into the Joker's face.

The sound of the metal hitting the bone of his cheek covered by his flesh and makeup echoed into her ears. The Joker shouted something incoherent as he fell to the side, a hand on his face where she hit him. Nichole rolled to the side of him, freeing her leg and scrambled away on her hands and knees. She was on the verge of going to her feet when she felt a sweaty hand grab her ankle with all the intention of crushing it in its grip.

She shouted as she tried to reach for the couch to grab onto. The arm of the couch slipped out of her hand as the Joker, took his other hand away from his face and placed it on the same ankle, yanking her backwards to his direction. As fast as a whip, he moved himself over her body with full force in order to crush her to the ground and prevent her from moving. Her stomach was burning against the hard wood floor. He then leaned up and slammed his forearm into her left arm holding the belt, making sure to put at least a quarter of his body weight on her delicate arm. She screamed in pain but tightened her grip on the belt. He then used his other hand to pry the belt out of her fingers before flinging it across the room.

She felt his sweaty chest on her back again as he leaned back on her. His right hand then clenched itself bestially under her chin. "You wanna play now?" He growled into her ear, his lips touching her ear, "Dontcha?" She shook her head with a "No!" and tried to use her arms to crawl forward again.

He quickly grabbed her left arm, preventing her from moving it. "I'll take that as a yes then." He chuckled. He felt her tears land on his fingers as she sobbed miserably. Oh how he _loved_ torturing her!

"Fine with me," he said, releasing her chin and wrapping his arm across her chest, to pull her up to her knees as he still leaned and pushed over her. Nichole sobbed only harder as she felt his hardness, still ready to go, pressing against her rear. "That's okay," he continued with a chuckle, "I'm always up for a challenge." And with that, he continued the hell he had started with her. She screamed as he did her and he sunk his teeth into her shoulder, feeling the skin break and blood flow into his mouth. She screamed and screamed and tried to move her arms but he was gripping onto them tightly as he rested his forearms with hers on the ground.

His teeth abandoned her shoulder and leaned his face in the crook of her neck, groaning loudly. "Ooohh yes, Niki! Yes!" He moaned in his crazy insane tone of voice.

He then leaned himself up, grabbing the back of her hair and yanking her head back as she continued to groan in pain and sob in humiliation. "Ohhh you are so tight!" He moaned with his breath (Nichole could hear the smile in his voice), "I could eat you alive right now… Bite after bite, scream after scream…" He yanked her head back even more, causing her to scream, as he forced himself fully inside of her while he rotated his hips, causing her absolute pain. "Did I mention how much I love to hear you scream?" He burst out in laughter and slammed her head down on the ground.

Nichole sobbed as the felt the cool floor hit the side of her face when he smashed her head down. His thrusts were getting slower, and deeper. He had his palms flat on the ground on either side of her as he continued pounding into her core, not caring how much he was hurting her.

"If I hadn't known better," he continued, between his groans "...I would still say that you were a virgin right before I took you for the second time on the couch." he smiled, letting out a breath of air. "I can only imagine how tight you were and what you must have felt like to the first lucky man that unwrapped you before I did!"

After a short while, the hell was over. He collapsed on to her back, all hot and sweaty. He then pulled himself out and rolled onto his back, right next to her. His makeup was a mess as his chest glistened with sweat as it heaved up and down. Nichole slowly turned on her left side, and curled up into a feeble position.

Never in her life had she felt such pain; such embarrassment.

All her attempts of escape from the hell her thrust upon her, only made him enjoy it even more.

Her sobs were clearly heard to him and seemed to make him even more happier than he was.

She was covered with his sweat and filled with his seed.

She groaned sitting up, glancing back at the Joker, too tired to glare at him. He had his head leaning on his shoulder looking EXTREMLY worn out. His mouth hung open slightly to breath out of and his makeup was all smudged.

He gave Nichole a sadistic smile. "Well yet again you don't disappoint. We should do that again some time eh? But minus your little belt attack. That wasn't very nice." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

She could not even roll her eyes at him. Everything in her was numb. She felt all of his sweat on her back feel cold as a breeze hit it. She reached over, taking her bra off the floor and putting it on followed by her underwear, leggings and finally she grabbed the stupid dress she loathed with a passion and tried to put it on.

But she couldn't zip it up.

The Joker laughed seeing that she couldn't. He took the dress out of her hands, Nichole expecting him to be helpful and help her put it on. But he didn't, instead he threw the dress onto the ground then scooped her up in his arms and brought her up the stairs to his room plopping her down on the bed.

"In here you don't need a dress.....what your wearing is-" He eyed her up and down smirking like a kid in a candy shop "Absolutely fine." She noticed he was in his pants and shirt already, and figured he must have put them on when she was putting on her stuff.

She took the blanket on the bed and wrapped herself in it, not caring that it was summer and very hot out. She wasn't about to be the Joker's **eye candy** while she slept. He would spend an hour looking at her features formulating little plans in his head of what he could do next.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "You do know its about ninety degrees outside, maybe eighty degrees in here."

She sighed, "I know....but I'm not about to let you look at me all night. I am not your eye candy."

He grinned climbing into bed next to her sliding the blanket off her and throwing it across the room. He snaked one arm around her waist pulling her close to him as he shut his eyes, preparing to fall asleep right then and there, but not before correcting Nichole.

"Oh but you are Nichole, you really are my eye candy."


	20. The Stakes Of The Game

**Kait:** I kissed a Joker and I liked it! The taste of his red lipstick! I kissed a Joker just to try it! I hope Harvey Dent don't mind it! It felt so wrong! It felt so right! Don't mean im getting my face carved tonight! I kissed a Joker and I liked it.......I liked it!

**Joker:** ....._(blinks)_

**Meg:** .....What the _hell _was that Kait?

**Kait: **_(giggles)_ oh nothing, just singing a Joker version of that song! Must say though I am very pleased no one hated last chapter! And ALSO IM SO FREAKING HAPPY! The Dark Knight and Batman Begins sections have merged! Hell yeah! _(dances)_

**Joker: **And people think im insane....

* * *

**Chapter 20**

She awoke feeling sore yet again.

But this pain was far worse.

Not only did her legs and various areas on her body feel sore and muscles torn, but emotionally it was her breaking point.

Yesterday's ordeal was the worst experiance with him for her.

The chasing.

The pushing and shoving.

She sat herself up, feeling completly numb everywhere.

The air around her seemed to float upwards, desiring her to float away from the room she was in.

It was at that moment she realized she was just in a bra and underwear, and she began to eye the room for some clothes. She noticed torn clothing of hers in the far corner of the room next to the bag of things she bought at the mall. She stood herself up and went to the torn clothing.

Nichole ran her fingers over the blood stained clothing, filled with cuts and tears in them.

Her mind was just like the clothes. Battered and broken.

There was a lump in one of the pockets to a pair of her jeans that were badly filled with blood. She reached into the pocket and she literally had to blink twice at what she saw.

Her music player was in that pocket.

She took it out and ran her fingers over it in utter disbelief. She had put it in her pocket the time she ran from the police station to meet the Joker in the warehouse to save Tom.

"I have to hide you.." She muttered, looking behind her at the room for a spot to hide it.

"I have to save your battery power up....save it for when I need it." She told it solumnly. She would be saving it for a closer time to when she thought she was going to die.

It would be her little piece of joy.

She went over to the bed, and placed it inbetween the two mattresses, towards the center.

She went to the bag of clothing after that and put on a random outfit. After putting on her shoes, she silently hoped that she wouldn't have to take all the clothes off and put on her 'Candy' outfit and go off on another adventure to rob, hurt, or kill something.

Yesterday was quite enough for a week, thank you very much.

She went to the door, and tried opening the door to leave the bedroom.

It was unlocked.

A good sign.

_The Joker wouldn't leave it unlocked for no reason._ She thought to herself. He wanted her to come out and find him, instead of him always coming in to get her, so she opened the door slowly, groaning at the loud squeak it made as she did so.

_How come whenever you want a door to stay quiet it doesn't, yet on other days when you don't even think and just open the door normally it makes no sound. It's just my luck. _She mentally cursed.

She poked her head out the door, and looked down the hallway. Empty. She took a risk and exited the Joker's room heading down the hallway and down the stairs.

There on the couch; The same couch he had his way with her last night, was the unmistakable Joker. He was sitting forward counting the bags upon bags of money they stole yesterday. He wasn't in his jacket or gloves, his sleeves rolled up and his vest buttoned up like normal. He noticed Nichole had come downstairs and looked up at her, giving a smirk at her, and then returning to count the money in his hands, putting the money on the side table next to the couch when he was done counting it.

She hesitantly walked over and sat down next to him, feeling extremely awkward, but she figured that his grin meant, "Get over here now".

A facial expression is worth a thousand words in the Joker's case, but Nichole was slowly starting to figure out his moods and feelings. She was determined to try harder not to set him off, but it got harder and harder as each day he got more violent and kept basically _fucking_ her to a pulp. Her cheeks stained red as she thought about it more.

Twice.

Twice he had done away with her.

Twice she endured that dreadful pain.

She would prefer being strangled and hell maybe even getting her face carved then to have to endure that any longer.

The sudden imagine of what he said to her yesterday came into her head.

"_Nichole when are you going to learn? I can do anything. This is my city, and you my babe...belong to me."_

She bite her lip to keep herself from sobbing.

_This really was his city. No one can control him. He was right. He has the power. Now what can I do? Try and run away again? The last two times of trying that worked out sooooo brilliantly and ended painfully....._ She sighed.

The thought of suicide had come into her head a few times, but that simply wasn't her. She would never commit suicide. One, because she doesn't have the guts to do so and two, because if she were to do that The Joker would take out his anger of her being dead and him not causing it, by killing people precious to her. Like Tom or her brother.

"So Nichole, I think_-kah_....I am going to be generous today."

His sudden talking caused her to jump, taking her away from her train of thought.

"Oh? How so?" She responded, as that was the only logical thing she thought to say after spacing out. Had she been thinking straight, she did not thinkg she would be able to hold back the irritation and hate in her voice when she spoke to him.

She wanted him to know she hated him with all the power within her.

"Well since you did such a _fan-tast-tic _job being my little criminal minion yesterday-" He grabbed her cheek with his un-gloved hand and shook her head back and forth as if she were a child. "-I have decided to let you have some fun, today."

Fun.

What the Joker called fun and what Nichole called fun were two complete opposite concepts.

Fun for him is killing, robbing, raping, terrorizing, and blowing shit up.

Fun for Nichole is reading a nice old book.

"I'm sorta afraid to ask....what kind of fun?" She stammered, resisting the urge to punch him for touching her cheek. Her hand twitched as it yearned to bat away his hand, even after it left her face.

"Me and you are going to have some 'bonding' good times tonight-tah." He nodded. "I am going to be out all day doing some business deals, and well I really don't need your help to get my _goods_, so I want you to go out and buy us some enter-_tain_-ment for the night."

She blinked, that was not the answer she was expecting. "Entertainment?"

He raised an eyebrow at her as if she was an idiot, not understanding something, but then he spoke. "Yanno things to keep us preocupied tonight. Things that are 'fun' to do."

Sheer terror caught in her eyes and she spoke without thinking. "I AM NOT BUYING YOU LITTLE TOYS IN...IN A SEX SHOP!"

He jumped not expecting her to yell. "Nichole.....Indoor voices please!" He giggled. "And I never said that. And besides babe we don't have to do that tonight, I was talking about things to keep us entertained like dinner, a movie, watching something die, something like that......" He suddenly brightened up. "But I am all game if you want to have another night of mischief." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down suggestively.

He stared at the ceiling for a moment. "Last night was....so... satisfying." He grinned.

"No no no.......what you said first is good." She replied nervously, making him leave his current thoughts of last night; playing out in his mind. His brightened expression turned into a frown and then he went back to counting his money.

"Why...may I ask, do you want me to do this for you?" She asked, after pausing to consider if he would grow angry from her asking a question.

He licked his lips. "Just so we can...bond more like I said."

"You're lying. That's not the reason! You know me well enough already-"

"Nikki shush! Has anyone told you, you talk too much? I _looooove_ talkers, but when a person talks when they aren't suppose to. It really gets on my nerves-_sah_. And all I know about you is your fears. The things that make your mind into a knot. Things that anger you and embarrass you. Things that make you cry. How is that knowing you well?" He grinned taunting her.

"Those things aren't important. You don't really want to bond with me, you are just doing this for-....for some reason that I have no idea why, and its probably some sick-o reason!" She yelled back.

"Or I could merely want to have some fun tonight? Don't get me wrong doll face our little moments on the couch and bed were fun, but I want to see how well you know me. How well you know me enough to be able to keep me entertained. Think of it as a test. Well really...this IS a test. An experiament! See how well you know your master. It's like a dog Nichole. Dogs read the mood of their owner and react different ways around them. When the owner is angry-" He whipped out his pocket knife, and put it by Nichole's mouth, placing one hand behind her head and pushing her slightly into the knife, but not breaking skin.

"The dog-" Nichole's breath quickened. "Knows to be scared or run away. Just like you. When the owner is happy-" He released the grip from her and put the knife away. Nichole let out a sigh of relief. "The dog is relaxed and less tense, but still fearful for the future. Like you." He grinned.

"Let's play a game! If you can keep me entertained tonight, I won't do anything to you tonight. I won't touch you at all and you can sleep-" He patted the couch. "Right here. But if I get bored and hate the night......well then you will be in for one _bumpy_ night." He laughed at his own pun, but Nichole didn't find it funny. Not. One. Bit.

_First comparing me to a fucking dog! Then repeatly saying he owns MY body and mind, and now playing this stupid little game!_ She vented in her mind. _I fucking hate this guy! The twisted fuck!_

He extended a hand. "Have we got a deal?"

She thought about it for a second. Having one night to make the Joker entertained, and if she succeeds she get the rest of the night to herself and wouldn't be raped or touch or hell wouldn't even have to sleep in the same bed as him. If she said no, tonight would be hell, but if she said yes and failed tonight would be not only hell, but far worse.

The only way to win would be to make tonight the best damn night ever for him.

_But what would keep him entertained?_

She's not going to strip for him.

_No way._

He suggested dinner. She could make a nice big meal for him, and he also suggested a movie. She just had to find a movie he would like, and its set.

She reached her small hand out and put it in the Joker's. They shook hands.

"Deal." She said flatly.

"Excellent." He looked pleased. "Then run along Nichole. I have to go to 'Business meeting'-" He made quotes in the air. "-so you can just walk on out of here and get stuff ready for tonight."

She stood up heading for the door, when a thought struck her.

She turned back around. "Wait....how am I to pay for things?"

The Joker rolled his eyes. "I am giving you the five finger discount deary." He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth smiling, holding one hand up in the air and wiggling his fingers back and forth.

"Steal? You want _me_ to **steal** stuff for a stupid cause?" She yelled in disbelief without thinking.

He let out a fake gasp, feigning shock. "A stupid cause? Well if that's the way you feel about it-" He stood up and walked over to her grabbing her by the neck and slamming her into the wall. She brought up a hand on the hand he had on her neck struggling to get him to release his grip. He lifted her body up by the neck. She stood on her tip-toes to try and be able to breath, but she couldn't. Her heart beat doubled as she let out choking noises.

"If that's how you feel about it, I should just, _excuse my French,_ but I should just _fuck_ your brains out right here and right now, and this time I'll use my good knife." He cackled, brining his other hand down to grope at her jean button.

"N-...No...I'll I-...D-o it! S-t....op! I....'ll...**DO IT**!" She manged to breath out with whatever air she had left in her body. He let her feet touch the ground again, but kept a tight grip on her neck.

"Now you are seeing things my way Nichole. We just get along _soooooo_ much better when you stop being a drama queen."

She thought about spitting on him, but then thought that might be a bad idea.

***

He let go of her neck, still standing in front of her crushing his weight into her. He leaned his face in close. She thought he was going to kiss her and shut her eyes tightly preparing for the inevitable, but instead the Joker just sniffed a piece of her hair and then leaned his face back. She opened her eyes confused.

"If you try and run away, while you are out. I still know where Tommy boy is, I still know what hospital he is in and keep in mind I know how to make bombs in about a half hour. My fastest time was twenty minutes thank you very much." He looked pleased with himself.

But he knew in the back of his head, that Tom was in fact not at the hospital. The Joker had some of his men working in the hospital, and they informed him that Tom basically ran away from the hospital and wants to go after the Joker himself and kill him. That made the Joker laugh....so hard. He felt like he was going to wet his pants when he heard the news. Honestly, Tom wants to mess with him? Let him come and try. Just try.

Jeez you knife someone in the stomach and taunt them that you are going to do naughty things to the one they love and then they want to kill you. People these days. No self control.That's what he was thinking when he heard the news.

But the most important thing was Nichole thought Tom was in the hospital still, and if she thinks that she wouldn't try and run away because she would want her friend safe. The hero in her makes the Joker want to throw up. Noble people. He sighed mentally, wishing that faithful day when Nichole loses it and joins his side willingly comes sooner.

Of course, when that times comes, the fact she is siding with him might bug the hell out of him. But he could just kill her. Once she was on his side, she would be nothing more then another henchman, that had one exception. He could have sex with her. Once she was normal and actually "happy" around him, he wouldn't give a seconds hesitation to blowing her brains out or letting her be killed. He felt no feelings for her. He just liked her _uses_.

But for now, he needs her alive. He is going to break her mind down, no matter what. Its his project. To see what the record is for the humans mind to become as crazy as his is. Nichole was holding up though. Very strong one indeed. But the Joker likes a challenge. Spreading his ideas is his job. And he likes this job. He likes it.

***

"Best get a move on Nichole. I'll be here at six. Everything should be ready, and if its not." He cracked his neck. "...Well ether way I will be having fun tonight. You? Not so much. Ha!"

Nichole nodded silently and walked out of the house, thinking about what on earth could she should do.

_Making dinner, getting a movie? Sounded more like a date .....ew! A date with the Joker!?_ She wanted to throw up at that thought.

She had to take this job seriously. If she failed, big pain would come to her. If she passed, she had a night to recuperate, and time to herself to plan out things. Like an escape.

***

The Joker couldn't help but giggled as he walked her leave. The poor woman must be freaking out right now he thought.

But this was too...much...fun.

This was all a game to him. He couldn't wait for tonight. It takes a lot for the Joker to have a good time, without any guns, knives, or explosions involved. She sure had one difficult task ahead of her, but thats where the fun part comes in.

He was going to be out all day anyways, so why not break Nichole's mind down even while he's not around? It seemed like a fun idea!

Watching her be miserable and fail will bring a grin to his face.

Speaking of faces, Nichole crying and frowning each time her and The Joker have a mischievous night game of sex was starting to bug him. He grabbed his pocket knife and stared at it intently thinking. Maybe...

...Just maybe she should smile more....

And maybe the Joker....Well maybe he could "help" her smile more.


	21. Preparing For The Game

**Joker:**_ (rubs head)_ Why must everyone hit me over the head.

**Meg:** Cause you are a meanie!

**Joker:** _(points to Meg) _YOU! _(charges at her and slams her into the wall)_ I have had enough of your little wise cracks! Sneak Attacks! And all around annoying personality! I am going to give you a smile!

**Kait:** _(flys in with a cape with corny background superhero music)_DUN DA DA DUN DUN DUN DAAAAAA! NEVER FEAR SUPER KAIT IS HERE! _(pulls the Joker off of Meg with her superhuman strength)_

**Joker:** Holy shit.

* * *

**Chapter 21**

Nichole walked a couple blocks till she was in downtown Gotham; the shop windows were lit up with '_Open'_ signs and a welcoming air conditioner.

The instense urge to run to a police station was eating her insides up.

_Here I am yet again....Walking around in daylight with the public....and I can not even cry for help!_ She thought hopelessly. She walked by average people, trying her best to not look like a frightened lost puppy.

Though no one was honestly paying attention to her or even making eye contact.

The people of the world were too caught up in their own silly lives to notice anything.

_Now where to first? _She thought looking in the shop windows as she passed them searching for something of interest; trying to take her mind off the urge to run away. She wanted to go the Gotham City Mall, but that was too far a distance to walk. And she had to keep in mind whatever she bought she had to carry around with her.

_I can't run away...He knows where Tom is!_ She had to remind herself. Her eyes were looking in shop windows, but they were not focused on anything. Her mind was taking over her eyes. She could only think about Tom.

Buying things require money; she had none. And honestly she didn't want to steal anything. She didn't even know how to steal properly without drawing attention to herself.

She passed by the _Gotham City Dump Yard_. The foul smell coming from it made her scrunch her nose. She peered into the dump yard as she started to walk by its' front gate. It was rather large and surrounded by a huge chain link fence, with barbed wire on the top, but there was a tiny gate with no lock on it to the side of the entire structure.

An idea sparked into her head.

She wouldn't have to steal if she had money.

To get money she could recycle cans and bottles at the grocery store.

To get cans and bottles and could search through the dump for them.

_Brilliant! Disgusting plan, but hey if it stopped me from having to steal, I'm okay with that._

Her mind would not allow her to steal without feeling very guilty. She carried guilt throughout her life. It was just the way she worked. And the nerves she already had inside of her, would show on her face even before her small hands would try to take and hide an item under her clothing and walk out of a store. They would watch her like a hawk the moment she set foot into a shop.

She walked over to the gate and pushed on it. It was all rusty and wouldn't open as she pushed harder. Growing frustrated by the pushing that did absolutely nothing, she backed up and ran straight towards the gate; full speed and arms extended outwards. This gate was going to open, even if it hurt her.

When she came crashing into the gate, it flew open and Nichole fell on to the ground, landing on her wrist. She bit the inside of her mouth to stop her from yelping in pain. If she made too much noise someone might hear and the cops would be at her within a seonds notice. It was illegal to be in the dump, but she had seen many times in her life when she passed by the place homeless people searching for food or clothes in the trash. She lifted her wrist, to check if it was broken, but thank god it wasn't, just in a lot of pain and slightly red.

She stood up and searched around the dump. She found a fairly nice trash bag that had no rips or tears in it and emptied it out. She would use this to put all the cans and bottles in it.

Thus her disgusting search for recyclables. She couldn't find any loose cans or bottles, so she had to do the grossest thing she has ever done, besides getting raped of course by the Joker. She had to dig through the trash piles. The things she dug through were gross, and smelled horrible. She just tried not to think about it. She tried to make her mind think she was just digging through sand, and not other people's left over food, and dirty messes.

She came across her first can. She nearly cheered as she placed it into her trash bag. One can equaled five cents. So she had to find a lot of cans. That thought made her loose hope. By the time she found enough cans and recycled them all it be six o'clock, but she could not just give up now. She had to try, and have the will power to do this task. It could save her pain later tonight.

_He's not going to get me again. He's not going to take my body again! It's not his temple to do whatever he pleases to! I can win this stupid game of his!_ She motivated herself.

She dug and dug for hours. Three hours of enduring the foul smell, sweating like a pig and getting goopy, gooey, and disgusting stuff on her, but she was successful.

She was able to fill to the top four trash bags with cans and bottles, and thought that was plenty. She carried the bags out of the dump, hoping no one would notice and walked a little farther down the street to the grocery store.

People kept giving her weird looks as she was walking, and as well they should. She had trash and mud and dump yard gunk on her and she smelled horrible. Worse than the Joker's scent, which was now stuck in her mind. Funny how you can remember scents and even sometimes smell them even when the thing that gives off that scent is no where near you. Anyways, everyone figured Nichole was just another homeless woman roaming around the streets of Gotham.

_Nothing out of the ordinary for this city._ She rolled her eyes, as someone passed her and placed their hand over their nose to block her scent; making perfectly sure Nichole saw them do it.

When she arrived at the grocery store, she was pretty happy the recycling center there wasn't in the actual grocery store itself. It was a room to the left of the entrance to the store. She walked inside the small room and began to put the bottles and cans in the machines. It took her a good fifteen minutes to get all the cans and bottles into the machine, by herself. A few people were in there as well. They looked and smelled as bad as Nichole.

_Real homless people._ Nichole glanced down at herself again. She fit in perfectly. _A good thing or a shameful thing?_ She couldn't think of the answer to that at the moment.

She pressed the 'Receit Now' button and her two receits came out. She didn't bother to look at them as she made her way in the store. She went to the costumer service desk and handed the man her receits. He gave her a glare and crinkled his nose at her scent, as he opened his register. She blushed embarrassed, but he couldn't see her cheeks stained red. The dirt covered her face.

He handed her twenty five dollars. She took the money shaking a bit. This was gold to her right now. Not enough to get really anything fancy but enough to get a dinner.

_I will win this game!_ She told herself. _I am going to get this done!_

The money boosted her confidence to the point, some of the nerves inside of her were draining.

She was going to head around the store to find some food to get, but instead made a detour to the bathroom. She took a hand full of the cheap brown paper towels running them under the sink and the soap dispenser and began to rub the paper towels on her arms and face. She was going to shower when she returned to the Joker's pad, but for now she wanted to try her best to get rid of the foul smell. It was even making her sick.

Another woman just left her bathroom stall and was at the sink next to Nichole's washing her hands. She looked at Nichole basically 'bathing' her arms and face in the bathroom and frowned.

"Rough day huh?" The woman asked, keeping her eyes on her hands as she washed them.

Nichole sighed. "Oh...you have no idea."

The woman reached over and grabbed herself a paper towel and dried her hands. She then reached into her purse pulling out a five dollar bill. She extended her hand with the money in it out towards Nichole.

Nichole looked at it and froze. This woman thought Nichole was homeless. "Oh...Oh no I can't accept that."

Even though she wanted to take the money, Nichole could not bring herself too. She did not want this woman's pity, for it would make her feel even lower than she already did.

"Nawh go on take it. You need it more than I do, thats for sure." The lady protested, giving Nichole a smile.

Nichole frowned and started to continue wiping her arms with the soap and water. "No I can't. Thats really nice of you, but-"

"Alrighty then.....I guess I'll just be going." She headed to the bathroom door. The lady then dropped the five dollar bill on to the ground on purpose and let out a fake gasp. "Oooops!" Then she walked out of the bathroom.

Nichole let out a small laugh walking over and picking the five dollar bill up.

_At least some people in Gotham are nice. This will insure that I have enough to keep him entertained tonight._ She smiled. With this five dollar bill she now had thirty bucks. Quite enough to get the things she had in mind.

Nichole went back over to the mirror and fixed her hair before walking back out of the bathroom and began to roam the aisles of the grocery store looking for something she could make for the Joker.

She tried to think of things she had made in the past that were good and looked fancy. The Joker was a man, and men eat a lot. They like more then one course meals. She got a shopping cart and filled it with vegetables, some bred sticks, beef, a steak, and an ice cream cake. She knew she would have a lot of preparing to do when she got back to the house. She was going to barely make his time frame.

She headed to check out, and waited in line for a couple minutes, glancing at the clock nearby. It was two o'clock. She had four hours, and the only thing she had done was buying the food for the night.

She got the same feeling again in her stomach.

The feeling of lost hope.

The confidence she had gained from having actual money in her hands was fading once again at the thought of how much time was left before the man in the face paint would walk through the doorway of the kitchen and demand to know what she prepared.

_I bet he thinks I have nothing done!_ She tried to humor herself.

She reached the front of the line and emptied her contents of the cart onto the counter. The guy at the register scanned all her items. "Ma'am that will be $32.55."

_Shit!_

She only had thirty bucks.

_Food prices these days are rediculous._ _What do I do now!?_

"Oh....um.....I...I kind of only have thirty dollars...." She blushed red again with embarrassment. "I guess we could do without the um-" She looked over the food. "The um....." The guy waiting in line behind her began to tap his foot irritated.

The man at the register sighed, "Look don't worry about it kay?"

"Oh..why...Thank you....thank you so much." Nichole stammered.

"Don't worry 'bout it." he said bagging her food up. He finish within seconds and handed Nichole to two shopping bags. "Come again." He smiled at her flashing his semi yellow teeth. A sudden image of the Joker and his smile with his pure yellow teeth came into her head. She froze in her spot, as she reached for the bags, shaking in fear at just the simple image of the Joker in her head. The way her flashbacks could now take over her body; making her freeze in her place just thinking of the very look of the Joker. It was truly terrifying.

The register man blinked waving the bag in her face now. "Uh Ma'am?"

Nichole snapped out of her fear. "Wha-? Oh...sorry. Just spaced out is all." She said without thinking as she grabbed the bags. "Sorry."

Nichole heard the man mutter. "Loonies of Arkam just keep escaping."

If she wasn't in this type of situation she would turn around and yell at him, but then again if she wasn't in this type of situation she wouldn't be acting this strangely around people.

Outside again it dawned on her. She had no money again, and all she had was food.

_No entertainment!_ She gasped. _All that trash digging for nothing!_

She was going to fail. She only had four hours and not enough time to go back to the dump and look for cans.

She was in the parking lot of the grocery store. All she needed was five bucks.

_FIVE BUCKS!_

That was how much it was to rent a movie in Gotham at the video store. She couldn't steal a movie there, because the alarms would go off. She had to steal money itself.

_But where?_

She walked by the cars parked and got an idea. She could break into the cars and find the money. It was such a horrible thing to do.

_But its only five bucks right? No one would miss it. No one would act like it was a total loss. _She tried to convince herself.

By the time she had set her mind that she was going to do this she was in between two cars. She tried to open the car's doors, but it was locked.

_Of course everyones cars would be locked._ She mentally facepalmed._ This is freaking Gotham City. Highest crime rate in the world, who wouldn't lock there door?_

Still she tried and tried to open every car's door she saw, until....

Click.

The car door was unlocked. A rush of excitement filled her stomach as she slowly opened the door. She began searching around the seats and floor for money, trying to make it look like it was her car. She opened the glove compartment and there sitting inside was ten, five dolled bills. Just her luck! She only took one five dollar bill though. She didn't want to steal more then she needed and besides one five dollar bill misplaced wouldn't seem suspicious.

She shut the car door and took her bags and jogged to the movie rental place.

_Crap!_ She panicked._ What movie to rent?_

Sure she had the money, but now she had no idea what to get.

_What genera of movie does the Joker like? He really doesn't strike me as a movie person though._ She thought it would be very hard for him to sit still and watch and get into the movie.

She entered the store and scanned aisle after aisle, looking at the movie titles and then thinking of how bad of a choice it be to pick

"The Notebook"

_HA! the Joker and love stories? No way._

"Steven King's IT"

_I think that be an insult to him to watch another clown kill people. He might kill me for 'mocking' him._

"Friday the 13th"

_Jason Voorhees? I think the Joker would stab the television with his knife once he saw the horrible 1980s graphics and special effects._

"The Atomic Bomb and YOU!"

_....I don't wanna give him ideas..._

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street"

_Hmmm....that might actually be a good choice. Its based on a play, and the Joker likes theatrical things. It has knives and a freaking song about them, and he has made it quite clear he likes knives. _She rubbed the scar on the back of her neck. _And sure it has songs, but it really is a depressing movie. I...think...I'll take my chances._

She grabbed _Sweeney Todd_ and headed to check out handing the clerk a five dollar bill, glancing at the clock. She now only had three hours to get back to the house cook the food, shower, set up the plates, look presentable and calm herself down so she doesn't start crying as soon as she sees the Joker.

It took her fifteen minutes to get back to the Joker's place. No vans were outside suggesting the Joker had taken all his men with him to wherever they were going. Nichole wondered, did all the Joker's men live at the house? She never really noticed, but then again she was always cooped up in the Joker's room and not exposed to the rest of the house except on rare occasions like these. And if they didn't live with the Joker, did they have families? Did they have children? How on earth did they end up working for the Joker, how desperate were they?

Nichole had to stop thinking and start getting ready. She took the bag of groceries and made her way to the kitchen, grabbing a pot and a pan out of the cupboards. They were all dusty and dirty so she had to wash them in the sink before using them.

She filled the pot with water and chopped up the vegetables she bought. Onions, tomatoes, potatoes, and carrots. She threw them in the pot and turned the gas on. She then put the beef on the frying pan and took a wooden spoon trying to cut up the beef into small pieced. This took about five minutes. When the beef where in small enough pieces she dumped it into the soup mixture, and then put some beef broth in it to follow.

She turned the timer on to an hour, taking a moment to catch her breath before putting the steak on the frying pan now and turning the heat onto that one too. She set the timer this time on the microwave for an hour. She looked at the steak cooking and the beef vegetable soup cooking and smiled.

Nichole dashed up the stairs to the Joker's room and into the private bathroom. She peeled off her disgusting clothes and put them into the sink and let the water run on them. She turned the shower water on and hopped in. The dirt on her washed off and went down the drain as she scrubbed her shampoo in her hair roughly making sure not to miss a single spot. The scent of her shampoo went into her nostrials and she felt like she could breath again. No more dump smell, just a lovely strawberry scent.

Standing there, with the warm water running all over her body, she couldn't help but relax. A calm energy flowed over her and overtook her. She shut her eyes enjoying the shower, keeping all her thoughts away from the Joker, and her situation, and trying to focus on good things, like the sun, and summer time, and this intoxication warmth in the shower.

Intoxicating....the same word the Joker used before he raped her last night.

All calm thoughts left and she broke out into a sob, at first a quiet one, but then she got louder, knowing perfectly well that no one was in the house with her to hear. She began screaming at the top of her lungs just to make herself feel better. To release the anger within her.

Her eyes were shut to keep the water out of her eyes, and that was a big mistake.

_The Joker popped into her head. He was laughing holding a glass picture frame with a picture of Tom and Nichole's dog in it. _

_"Ooooh Nichole!" He wiggled the picture in his hands and then dropped the picture onto the ground. It shattered into a hundred different pieces, and blood began to spill out of the picture. She heard screaming. Screams of pain and agony, from Tom. And then squeeling from her dead dog, followed by a low buzz of talking. She registered who was talking. Her dead students. They were yelling at her. _

_"NICHOLE! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE US?"_

_"Why did you go against the Joker and tell us the story!? If you didn't we would all be alive! It's all your fault!"_

_Tom sitting in the chair, knife in his stomach groaned in pain. "Nichole.....you're not worth all this pain I'm going through. This is all your fault!"_

_Her dog raced towards her. She sniffled looking at him. "ATTICUS!" She screamed running to him. She hugged him tightly. "Atticus! You're alive!" The dog suddenly became charred and curnt up. He became ashes in her hands. _

_The Joker walked over to her picking her up by the neck. "Why so serious?"_

Nichole screamed, opening her eyes. She had fallen asleep standing up. She felt tears in her eyes and she welcomed them. A visual of the Joker still stayed in her mind. She screamed loudly again to let her anger out.

"I HATE YOU!" She screamed loudly. "I HATE YOU SO MUCH!" It felt better to vent her anger out loud, even though the Joker wasn't there to hear it.

"I HOPE YOU DIE AND GET SENT TO THE DEEPEST PART OF HELL YOU SICK MOTHER FUCKER!" It wasn't like her to use such words, but due to the circumstances she thought they were appropriate. "ONE DAY I WILL KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! YOU BASTARD!"

She sunk to the shower floor not caring how dirty or gross it was, she curled into fetal position on the ground crying. She hated the Joker. She hated him with an ever loving passion. Never in her life has she hated something more then him.

Nichole sat there trying to stop her sobbing for another five minutes. She got out of the shower and wrapped her hair in a towel, and went into the Joker's room throwing on some new clothes.

She went downstairs just in time for the timer to go off on the steak and soup. She went to the steak first and flipped it over on the pan and then set the timer for another hour, then mixed the wooden spoon and set it to heat for thirty minutes.

The little table with four chairs surrounding it would be the place Nichole and The Joker would eat at she supposed. She searched the kitchen till she found plates and silver ware. She set down two plates, two bowels for the soup, two forks and two spoons, and napkins on the seats. Satisfied with the look she placed the bread sticks on a plate and put them in the center of the table so the Joker and her could eat as many as they choose, but she intended on letting the Joker have more, for obvious reasons.

She then got out a new frying pan and put some string beans on them and let them simmer.

"Just something nice to go with the steak." She muttered to herself, feeling as if her talking herself through this would help calm her down.

She also had two left over potatoes and decided to make mashed potatoes with them.

_This meal would be excellent for the Joker. A big variety of food. Why wouldn't he love it? _Nichole was even loving it, and actually looking forward to eating it, but was still in fear tonight would be a disaster.

She bet that as soon as he came home, all thoughts of eating would leave her mind and with the food placed in front of her...she may end up feeling as if she was going to throw up.

She placed the movie in the living room by the television. She had an hour before the Joker would return home. Plenty of time to relax for a few minutes. Nichole walked upstairs retrieved her music player from under his bed, where she had placed it eariler and then walked back downstairs to sit on the couch. Placing the headphones in her ears, she turned the music on, leaning back in the chair and shutting her eyes.

She honestly didn't care if she wore the battery out.

She knew if she lost his 'game' tonight and another session like yesterday's happened...she would be dead by morning.

Music. Life's gift and wonder. The only thing on this earth that could take Nichole to a calm place. Somewhere far, far away from the old beat up building, that caged her. Somewhere far away from that stupid stupid clown. She started to doze off, today's work catching up to her. The music became a distance buzz in her ears. It felt like a few seconds.....Then she jerked herself awake. She undid her headphones and heard a strange beeping noise.

_THE FOOD!_

She dashed to the kitchen, checking the clock. She in fact had fallen asleep, for a good forty five minutes! Music, a gift and a calm state of mind, but Nichole thought she got a little 'too calm'. She took the frying pan with the steak in it off the stove and onto the counter, along with the pot carrying her soup.

Panic hit her as she had almost no time left. She checked her reflection in the mirror image she saw of herself in the window and ran her fingers through her blonde hair. "I can do this.....You can do this." She told herself firmly.

She jumped up in the air as she heard a loud door slam open, and the unmistakable eerie sounding voice of the Joker. "Oh, honey! I'm _Hooooooome-mah_!"

**ker:**_ (rubs head)_ Why must everyone hit me over the head.

**Meg:** Cause you are a meanie!

**Joker:** _(points to Meg) _YOU! _(charges at her and slams her into the wall)_ I have had enough of your little wise cracks! Sneak Attacks! And all around annoying personality! I am going to give you a smile!

**Kait:** _(flys in with a cape with corny background superhero music)_DUN DA DA DUN DUN DUN DAAAAAA! NEVER FEAR SUPER KAIT IS HERE! _(pulls the Joker off of Meg with her superhuman strength)_

**Joker:** Holy shit.

* * *

**Chapter 21**

Nichole walked a couple blocks till she was in downtown Gotham; the shop windows were lit up with '_Open'_ signs and a welcoming air conditioner.

The instense urge to run to a police station was eating her insides up.

_Here I am yet again....Walking around in daylight with the public....and I can not even cry for help!_ She thought hopelessly. She walked by average people, trying her best to not look like a frightened lost puppy.

Though no one was honestly paying attention to her or even making eye contact.

The people of the world were too caught up in their own silly lives to notice anything.

_Now where to first? _She thought looking in the shop windows as she passed them searching for something of interest; trying to take her mind off the urge to run away. She wanted to go the Gotham City Mall, but that was too far a distance to walk. And she had to keep in mind whatever she bought she had to carry around with her.

_I can't run away...He knows where Tom is!_ She had to remind herself. Her eyes were looking in shop windows, but they were not focused on anything. Her mind was taking over her eyes. She could only think about Tom.

Buying things require money; she had none. And honestly she didn't want to steal anything. She didn't even know how to steal properly without drawing attention to herself.

She passed by the _Gotham City Dump Yard_. The foul smell coming from it made her scrunch her nose. She peered into the dump yard as she started to walk by its' front gate. It was rather large and surrounded by a huge chain link fence, with barbed wire on the top, but there was a tiny gate with no lock on it to the side of the entire structure.

An idea sparked into her head.

She wouldn't have to steal if she had money.

To get money she could recycle cans and bottles at the grocery store.

To get cans and bottles and could search through the dump for them.

_Brilliant! Disgusting plan, but hey if it stopped me from having to steal, I'm okay with that._

Her mind would not allow her to steal without feeling very guilty. She carried guilt throughout her life. It was just the way she worked. And the nerves she already had inside of her, would show on her face even before her small hands would try to take and hide an item under her clothing and walk out of a store. They would watch her like a hawk the moment she set foot into a shop.

She walked over to the gate and pushed on it. It was all rusty and wouldn't open as she pushed harder. Growing frustrated by the pushing that did absolutely nothing, she backed up and ran straight towards the gate; full speed and arms extended outwards. This gate was going to open, even if it hurt her.

When she came crashing into the gate, it flew open and Nichole fell on to the ground, landing on her wrist. She bit the inside of her mouth to stop her from yelping in pain. If she made too much noise someone might hear and the cops would be at her within a seonds notice. It was illegal to be in the dump, but she had seen many times in her life when she passed by the place homeless people searching for food or clothes in the trash. She lifted her wrist, to check if it was broken, but thank god it wasn't, just in a lot of pain and slightly red.

She stood up and searched around the dump. She found a fairly nice trash bag that had no rips or tears in it and emptied it out. She would use this to put all the cans and bottles in it.

Thus her disgusting search for recyclables. She couldn't find any loose cans or bottles, so she had to do the grossest thing she has ever done, besides getting raped of course by the Joker. She had to dig through the trash piles. The things she dug through were gross, and smelled horrible. She just tried not to think about it. She tried to make her mind think she was just digging through sand, and not other people's left over food, and dirty messes.

She came across her first can. She nearly cheered as she placed it into her trash bag. One can equaled five cents. So she had to find a lot of cans. That thought made her loose hope. By the time she found enough cans and recycled them all it be six o'clock, but she could not just give up now. She had to try, and have the will power to do this task. It could save her pain later tonight.

_He's not going to get me again. He's not going to take my body again! It's not his temple to do whatever he pleases to! I can win this stupid game of his!_ She motivated herself.

She dug and dug for hours. Three hours of enduring the foul smell, sweating like a pig and getting goopy, gooey, and disgusting stuff on her, but she was successful.

She was able to fill to the top four trash bags with cans and bottles, and thought that was plenty. She carried the bags out of the dump, hoping no one would notice and walked a little farther down the street to the grocery store.

People kept giving her weird looks as she was walking, and as well they should. She had trash and mud and dump yard gunk on her and she smelled horrible. Worse than the Joker's scent, which was now stuck in her mind. Funny how you can remember scents and even sometimes smell them even when the thing that gives off that scent is no where near you. Anyways, everyone figured Nichole was just another homeless woman roaming around the streets of Gotham.

_Nothing out of the ordinary for this city._ She rolled her eyes, as someone passed her and placed their hand over their nose to block her scent; making perfectly sure Nichole saw them do it.

When she arrived at the grocery store, she was pretty happy the recycling center there wasn't in the actual grocery store itself. It was a room to the left of the entrance to the store. She walked inside the small room and began to put the bottles and cans in the machines. It took her a good fifteen minutes to get all the cans and bottles into the machine, by herself. A few people were in there as well. They looked and smelled as bad as Nichole.

_Real homless people._ Nichole glanced down at herself again. She fit in perfectly. _A good thing or a shameful thing?_ She couldn't think of the answer to that at the moment.

She pressed the 'Receit Now' button and her two receits came out. She didn't bother to look at them as she made her way in the store. She went to the costumer service desk and handed the man her receits. He gave her a glare and crinkled his nose at her scent, as he opened his register. She blushed embarrassed, but he couldn't see her cheeks stained red. The dirt covered her face.

He handed her twenty five dollars. She took the money shaking a bit. This was gold to her right now. Not enough to get really anything fancy but enough to get a dinner.

_I will win this game!_ She told herself. _I am going to get this done!_

The money boosted her confidence to the point, some of the nerves inside of her were draining.

She was going to head around the store to find some food to get, but instead made a detour to the bathroom. She took a hand full of the cheap brown paper towels running them under the sink and the soap dispenser and began to rub the paper towels on her arms and face. She was going to shower when she returned to the Joker's pad, but for now she wanted to try her best to get rid of the foul smell. It was even making her sick.

Another woman just left her bathroom stall and was at the sink next to Nichole's washing her hands. She looked at Nichole basically 'bathing' her arms and face in the bathroom and frowned.

"Rough day huh?" The woman asked, keeping her eyes on her hands as she washed them.

Nichole sighed. "Oh...you have no idea."

The woman reached over and grabbed herself a paper towel and dried her hands. She then reached into her purse pulling out a five dollar bill. She extended her hand with the money in it out towards Nichole.

Nichole looked at it and froze. This woman thought Nichole was homeless. "Oh...Oh no I can't accept that."

Even though she wanted to take the money, Nichole could not bring herself too. She did not want this woman's pity, for it would make her feel even lower than she already did.

"Nawh go on take it. You need it more than I do, thats for sure." The lady protested, giving Nichole a smile.

Nichole frowned and started to continue wiping her arms with the soap and water. "No I can't. Thats really nice of you, but-"

"Alrighty then.....I guess I'll just be going." She headed to the bathroom door. The lady then dropped the five dollar bill on to the ground on purpose and let out a fake gasp. "Oooops!" Then she walked out of the bathroom.

Nichole let out a small laugh walking over and picking the five dollar bill up.

_At least some people in Gotham are nice. This will insure that I have enough to keep him entertained tonight._ She smiled. With this five dollar bill she now had thirty bucks. Quite enough to get the things she had in mind.

Nichole went back over to the mirror and fixed her hair before walking back out of the bathroom and began to roam the aisles of the grocery store looking for something she could make for the Joker.

She tried to think of things she had made in the past that were good and looked fancy. The Joker was a man, and men eat a lot. They like more then one course meals. She got a shopping cart and filled it with vegetables, some bred sticks, beef, a steak, and an ice cream cake. She knew she would have a lot of preparing to do when she got back to the house. She was going to barely make his time frame.

She headed to check out, and waited in line for a couple minutes, glancing at the clock nearby. It was two o'clock. She had four hours, and the only thing she had done was buying the food for the night.

She got the same feeling again in her stomach.

The feeling of lost hope.

The confidence she had gained from having actual money in her hands was fading once again at the thought of how much time was left before the man in the face paint would walk through the doorway of the kitchen and demand to know what she prepared.

_I bet he thinks I have nothing done!_ She tried to humor herself.

She reached the front of the line and emptied her contents of the cart onto the counter. The guy at the register scanned all her items. "Ma'am that will be $32.55."

_Shit!_

She only had thirty bucks.

_Food prices these days are rediculous._ _What do I do now!?_

"Oh....um.....I...I kind of only have thirty dollars...." She blushed red again with embarrassment. "I guess we could do without the um-" She looked over the food. "The um....." The guy waiting in line behind her began to tap his foot irritated.

The man at the register sighed, "Look don't worry about it kay?"

"Oh..why...Thank you....thank you so much." Nichole stammered.

"Don't worry 'bout it." he said bagging her food up. He finish within seconds and handed Nichole to two shopping bags. "Come again." He smiled at her flashing his semi yellow teeth. A sudden image of the Joker and his smile with his pure yellow teeth came into her head. She froze in her spot, as she reached for the bags, shaking in fear at just the simple image of the Joker in her head. The way her flashbacks could now take over her body; making her freeze in her place just thinking of the very look of the Joker. It was truly terrifying.

The register man blinked waving the bag in her face now. "Uh Ma'am?"

Nichole snapped out of her fear. "Wha-? Oh...sorry. Just spaced out is all." She said without thinking as she grabbed the bags. "Sorry."

Nichole heard the man mutter. "Loonies of Arkam just keep escaping."

If she wasn't in this type of situation she would turn around and yell at him, but then again if she wasn't in this type of situation she wouldn't be acting this strangely around people.

Outside again it dawned on her. She had no money again, and all she had was food.

_No entertainment!_ She gasped. _All that trash digging for nothing!_

She was going to fail. She only had four hours and not enough time to go back to the dump and look for cans.

She was in the parking lot of the grocery store. All she needed was five bucks.

_FIVE BUCKS!_

That was how much it was to rent a movie in Gotham at the video store. She couldn't steal a movie there, because the alarms would go off. She had to steal money itself.

_But where?_

She walked by the cars parked and got an idea. She could break into the cars and find the money. It was such a horrible thing to do.

_But its only five bucks right? No one would miss it. No one would act like it was a total loss. _She tried to convince herself.

By the time she had set her mind that she was going to do this she was in between two cars. She tried to open the car's doors, but it was locked.

_Of course everyones cars would be locked._ She mentally facepalmed._ This is freaking Gotham City. Highest crime rate in the world, who wouldn't lock there door?_

Still she tried and tried to open every car's door she saw, until....

Click.

The car door was unlocked. A rush of excitement filled her stomach as she slowly opened the door. She began searching around the seats and floor for money, trying to make it look like it was her car. She opened the glove compartment and there sitting inside was ten, five dolled bills. Just her luck! She only took one five dollar bill though. She didn't want to steal more then she needed and besides one five dollar bill misplaced wouldn't seem suspicious.

She shut the car door and took her bags and jogged to the movie rental place.

_Crap!_ She panicked._ What movie to rent?_

Sure she had the money, but now she had no idea what to get.

_What genera of movie does the Joker like? He really doesn't strike me as a movie person though._ She thought it would be very hard for him to sit still and watch and get into the movie.

She entered the store and scanned aisle after aisle, looking at the movie titles and then thinking of how bad of a choice it be to pick

"The Notebook"

_HA! the Joker and love stories? No way._

"Steven King's IT"

_I think that be an insult to him to watch another clown kill people. He might kill me for 'mocking' him._

"Friday the 13th"

_Jason Voorhees? I think the Joker would stab the television with his knife once he saw the horrible 1980s graphics and special effects._

"The Atomic Bomb and YOU!"

_....I don't wanna give him ideas..._

"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street"

_Hmmm....that might actually be a good choice. Its based on a play, and the Joker likes theatrical things. It has knives and a freaking song about them, and he has made it quite clear he likes knives. _She rubbed the scar on the back of her neck. _And sure it has songs, but it really is a depressing movie. I...think...I'll take my chances._

She grabbed _Sweeney Todd_ and headed to check out handing the clerk a five dollar bill, glancing at the clock. She now only had three hours to get back to the house cook the food, shower, set up the plates, look presentable and calm herself down so she doesn't start crying as soon as she sees the Joker.

It took her fifteen minutes to get back to the Joker's place. No vans were outside suggesting the Joker had taken all his men with him to wherever they were going. Nichole wondered, did all the Joker's men live at the house? She never really noticed, but then again she was always cooped up in the Joker's room and not exposed to the rest of the house except on rare occasions like these. And if they didn't live with the Joker, did they have families? Did they have children? How on earth did they end up working for the Joker, how desperate were they?

Nichole had to stop thinking and start getting ready. She took the bag of groceries and made her way to the kitchen, grabbing a pot and a pan out of the cupboards. They were all dusty and dirty so she had to wash them in the sink before using them.

She filled the pot with water and chopped up the vegetables she bought. Onions, tomatoes, potatoes, and carrots. She threw them in the pot and turned the gas on. She then put the beef on the frying pan and took a wooden spoon trying to cut up the beef into small pieced. This took about five minutes. When the beef where in small enough pieces she dumped it into the soup mixture, and then put some beef broth in it to follow.

She turned the timer on to an hour, taking a moment to catch her breath before putting the steak on the frying pan now and turning the heat onto that one too. She set the timer this time on the microwave for an hour. She looked at the steak cooking and the beef vegetable soup cooking and smiled.

Nichole dashed up the stairs to the Joker's room and into the private bathroom. She peeled off her disgusting clothes and put them into the sink and let the water run on them. She turned the shower water on and hopped in. The dirt on her washed off and went down the drain as she scrubbed her shampoo in her hair roughly making sure not to miss a single spot. The scent of her shampoo went into her nostrials and she felt like she could breath again. No more dump smell, just a lovely strawberry scent.

Standing there, with the warm water running all over her body, she couldn't help but relax. A calm energy flowed over her and overtook her. She shut her eyes enjoying the shower, keeping all her thoughts away from the Joker, and her situation, and trying to focus on good things, like the sun, and summer time, and this intoxication warmth in the shower.

Intoxicating....the same word the Joker used before he raped her last night.

All calm thoughts left and she broke out into a sob, at first a quiet one, but then she got louder, knowing perfectly well that no one was in the house with her to hear. She began screaming at the top of her lungs just to make herself feel better. To release the anger within her.

Her eyes were shut to keep the water out of her eyes, and that was a big mistake.

_The Joker popped into her head. He was laughing holding a glass picture frame with a picture of Tom and Nichole's dog in it. _

_"Ooooh Nichole!" He wiggled the picture in his hands and then dropped the picture onto the ground. It shattered into a hundred different pieces, and blood began to spill out of the picture. She heard screaming. Screams of pain and agony, from Tom. And then squeeling from her dead dog, followed by a low buzz of talking. She registered who was talking. Her dead students. They were yelling at her. _

_"NICHOLE! WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE US?"_

_"Why did you go against the Joker and tell us the story!? If you didn't we would all be alive! It's all your fault!"_

_Tom sitting in the chair, knife in his stomach groaned in pain. "Nichole.....you're not worth all this pain I'm going through. This is all your fault!"_

_Her dog raced towards her. She sniffled looking at him. "ATTICUS!" She screamed running to him. She hugged him tightly. "Atticus! You're alive!" The dog suddenly became charred and curnt up. He became ashes in her hands. _

_The Joker walked over to her picking her up by the neck. "Why so serious?"_

Nichole screamed, opening her eyes. She had fallen asleep standing up. She felt tears in her eyes and she welcomed them. A visual of the Joker still stayed in her mind. She screamed loudly again to let her anger out.

"I HATE YOU!" She screamed loudly. "I HATE YOU SO MUCH!" It felt better to vent her anger out loud, even though the Joker wasn't there to hear it.

"I HOPE YOU DIE AND GET SENT TO THE DEEPEST PART OF HELL YOU SICK MOTHER FUCKER!" It wasn't like her to use such words, but due to the circumstances she thought they were appropriate. "ONE DAY I WILL KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! YOU BASTARD!"

She sunk to the shower floor not caring how dirty or gross it was, she curled into fetal position on the ground crying. She hated the Joker. She hated him with an ever loving passion. Never in her life has she hated something more then him.

Nichole sat there trying to stop her sobbing for another five minutes. She got out of the shower and wrapped her hair in a towel, and went into the Joker's room throwing on some new clothes.

She went downstairs just in time for the timer to go off on the steak and soup. She went to the steak first and flipped it over on the pan and then set the timer for another hour, then mixed the wooden spoon and set it to heat for thirty minutes.

The little table with four chairs surrounding it would be the place Nichole and The Joker would eat at she supposed. She searched the kitchen till she found plates and silver ware. She set down two plates, two bowels for the soup, two forks and two spoons, and napkins on the seats. Satisfied with the look she placed the bread sticks on a plate and put them in the center of the table so the Joker and her could eat as many as they choose, but she intended on letting the Joker have more, for obvious reasons.

She then got out a new frying pan and put some string beans on them and let them simmer.

"Just something nice to go with the steak." She muttered to herself, feeling as if her talking herself through this would help calm her down.

She also had two left over potatoes and decided to make mashed potatoes with them.

_This meal would be excellent for the Joker. A big variety of food. Why wouldn't he love it? _Nichole was even loving it, and actually looking forward to eating it, but was still in fear tonight would be a disaster.

She bet that as soon as he came home, all thoughts of eating would leave her mind and with the food placed in front of her...she may end up feeling as if she was going to throw up.

She placed the movie in the living room by the television. She had an hour before the Joker would return home. Plenty of time to relax for a few minutes. Nichole walked upstairs retrieved her music player from under his bed, where she had placed it eariler and then walked back downstairs to sit on the couch. Placing the headphones in her ears, she turned the music on, leaning back in the chair and shutting her eyes.

She honestly didn't care if she wore the battery out.

She knew if she lost his 'game' tonight and another session like yesterday's happened...she would be dead by morning.

Music. Life's gift and wonder. The only thing on this earth that could take Nichole to a calm place. Somewhere far, far away from the old beat up building, that caged her. Somewhere far away from that stupid stupid clown. She started to doze off, today's work catching up to her. The music became a distance buzz in her ears. It felt like a few seconds.....Then she jerked herself awake. She undid her headphones and heard a strange beeping noise.

_THE FOOD!_

She dashed to the kitchen, checking the clock. She in fact had fallen asleep, for a good forty five minutes! Music, a gift and a calm state of mind, but Nichole thought she got a little 'too calm'. She took the frying pan with the steak in it off the stove and onto the counter, along with the pot carrying her soup.

Panic hit her as she had almost no time left. She checked her reflection in the mirror image she saw of herself in the window and ran her fingers through her blonde hair. "I can do this.....You can do this." She told herself firmly.

She jumped up in the air as she heard a loud door slam open, and the unmistakable eerie sounding voice of the Joker. "Oh, honey! I'm _Hooooooome-mah_!"


	22. The Game

**Kait: **Hahah for this chapter I looked up food recipes and OCD forms! Yay me!

* * *

**Chapter 22**

Before Nichole could say or do anything, she felt an arm snake around her waist, and a makeup filled chin resting on top of her head. "Whatcha making _bea-uuuu-tiful_? Have you been my little _uh_ house maker all day preparing the goodies?"

"Uh....Yeah I-...just finishing up our dinner. Um...uh...I-"

"Oh ho...why so nervous Nichole? You seem very tense_-sah_. I can feel the muscles inside of you tight and locked into place." He patted her stomach with his hand.

"Just...um.." She lost her words. The Joker's tone of voice and his position was so intimidating to her. She felt like the kid caught lying and trying to weasel her way out of it. The feeling of his makeupp smearing off and collecting on the top of her head and hair, was the focus of her attention at the moment.

"If...you could just go sit down we can _ea-e-e-at...._Eat!" She stammered.

"Then let's ea-e-e-at!" The Joekr mocked her tone of voice and then started to laugh.

The Joker let go of her suddenly, taking off his jacket and gloves and putting them on the kitchen counter casually. He pulled back his chair at the table and plopped into it. "So what's the agenda for tonight Nichole? I was _reaaaaally_ looking forward to this all day long. I just couldn't.....wait." He grinned.

He was really excited.

Excited to see how bad Nichole would screw up tonight.

Nichole walked over to the table with the soup pot in her shaking hands. "Well. We are going to eat and then watch a movie...I guess."

"You guess? Is _that _all you could think of to do tonight? How original. Well I don't mean to judge but I think me and you are going to end up having an after party**.** Hehe ha ha!" He placed his elbows on the table and rested his hands on his neck; leaning forward. He batted his eyes at her faking innocence.

Nichole was pouring the soup into his bowl, and ended up spilling some on his lap, because once he said that last sentence, she froze in fear. She gasped looking down at his lap.

_O__h no....this can't be happening!_ She thought, panicking.

"Oh my god! I am so sorry!" She blurted out, quickly grabbing a napkin and she began to wipe his pants with it to get the soup off, praying it wasn't burning him, and praying he wasn't too mad.

The Joker surprisingly remained calm. "Oh don't worry Nichole, I don't mind this at all. You should get used to being down there anyways." He erupted in a fit of laughter. Nichole rolled her eyes wiping up the last bit of soup, and then standing up straight to pour some soup into her own bowl. She returned the pot to the kitchen and then sat down in the chair across from the Joker.

"Tut tut. Nichole you are too far away from me. I won't be able to hear your weak little voice when you speak to me, since you seem to like to be _sooo_ quiet around me." He reached his arm out and pulled her chair so it was closer to him. She mumbled her hate towards him softly to herself without thinking.

"What was that?" The Joker's face twisted into a glare and he placed one of his hands by his ear.

"Oh sorry....I guess you still can't hear my **weak** little voice-" She stopped herself and her sarcasm. She looked into his dark angry eyes.

_I have to keep my comments and temper to myself tonight!_ She quickly reminded herself. If she acted up against him, she would end up making him angry and make her loose the challenge.

And she couldn't loose. She was too weak and tired at the moment to be able withstand another night of his fun and games.

She picked up her spoon and dipped it into her soup. She brought the spoon up to her mouth and began to eat. It was very good to her taste buds, she was just worried it would be horrible to his. She took another spoonful, blowing on it to cool it down. The ripples that formed from her spoon leaving the soup, was what she was now focusing on to rid her mind of the scent casting off the Joker. He always smelled so gross and dirty to her.

He took his spoon and mixed around the soup playing with it; prolonging the moment to purposly make her tense.

"And what would this be?" He asked.

Nichole swallowed the liquid in her mouth. "It's beef vegetable soup. A recipe of mine." She crossed her fingers behind her back.

_Please like it. Please please.....like it. _

He took his spoonful of soup and put it in his mouth; lingering the silverware by it. He eyed the brothy mixture swirling about in his spoon.

A few seconds later he shrugged, threw his spoon on the ground, and took the bowel with both hands drinking the soup out of it loudly and rudely. He chugged it down in about thirty seconds she guessed. Her hand stopped in midair with spoon in hand ready to enter her mouth. The fact the Joker just ate all the soup was a very good sign to her. At least she hoped. But she was in shock at how rude his table manners were.

Never in her life had she seen such beast and animal like table manners.

It really made her stick to her thoughts about him being some form of a beast.

A demon.

Anything but a human.

He set the bowl down letting out a satisfied long sigh. He noticed Nichole eating with her spoon and raised an eyebrow. "Yanno you don't have to eat all fancy in front of me....and this-" He pointed to his empty bowl. "Better not be all you made because I am starving!" He patted his stomach.

"Well, even though I may be captured by Gotham's biggest criminal, I intend to keep my pride and be civil." She stated eating more soup; keeping that the focus of her eye.

He raised an eyebrow again, before laughing. "Oh Nichole. You really are a knee slapper." He slap his knee and stoped his laughter instantly putting on a serious and not amused face. "You lost both of those qualities a while ago babe. What your doing now...I call it an act. You don't want to eat like me, because then you think that **I** would think you are giving in to me, that you are acting like me and liking it. But Nichole I know your little mind is still holding up." He patted the top of her head as if she were a dog. "Don't worry one day soon it will happen. But for now, it's just eating. So don't try to impress me with your table manners, because they aren't_-tah_. It is just displaying an act for me. If I was a play critic, I would not even nominate you for the poor job you are doing with your acting skills at the moment." He nodded his head more times than needed.

She sighed taking the bowl in her hands and drinking it. She had been taught table manners and always followed them, but she knew if she continued to do it her way the Joker would get even more madder than her was now. Though his voice was taunting and teasing, his eyes grew darker every second. A raging anger building up inside of him waiting to come out and release upon Nichole.

_Tonight is going to be horrible_. She knew it. He'd twist the words coming out of her mouth and even if she did by some slim chance win the challenge...she knew he'd twist the game back to his favor. He seemed like one that would never lose.

She did not bother to finish her soup before, she went into the kitchen bringing in the steak, mash potatoes, and string beans. She gave him a large amount of each, and gave herself a much smaller amount.

They both dug into their food. The Joker chewing with his mouth open, rarely using his silver ware, and making a ton of noise. Nichole did the opposite of what he did, and thankfully he was too busy eating to notice and yell at her for being so 'proper' in his eyes. By the time she finished he was three fourths of the way done with his food.

He turned to Nichole with a bit of mash potato on his chin.

Nichole pointed to her lips and traced the air by them, to indicate to him he had food on himself. He raised an eyebrow either not understanding what she was trying to say, or completly understanding but wanting to be a complete ass about it to bug her.

After a short pause, he spoke; still shoveling food into his mouth as he did so. "I can't understand when you try to do sign language on me dear."

She instantly grabbed her napkin and reached over wiping it off of him gently. She couldn't stand stuff like that. She always thought she has some form of OCD when it comes to food. She can't have the different kinds of food on her plate touch each other. It bugs her. But what really bugs her is when food is on people's faces. Disgusting and animal like.

The Joker looked surprised at the little stunt she just pulled. He licked his lips and returned to his food. After about five minutes he finished, and leaned back in his chair looking full.

She dared to ask, eyeing his empty plate with a rush of hope. "So...did you enjoy it?"

"Doll face, I would have enjoyed it if it was dog droppings. Food is food, simple as that. People in this world are so picky over what to eat and such. Just give me anything and I'll eat it....except bats. I don't eat bats. I like to play with them." He cackled.

"Where on earth do they eat bats?" She asked appaulled.

"Same place they eat cats and dogs." He clapped and rubbed his hands together standing up. "So what's next **Nicandy**? I am not getting any younger."

_He just called me, Nicandy. Combinding Nichole and Candy. Oh how cute..._She thought saracastically. She wanted to strangle him right now. But he was amused at her facial reaction to it, so much he had to bite his tongue to hold in his laughter.

"Well next I was thinking we could- shit!" She had stood up and her music player, which was in her pocket fell out and hit the ground with a loud thud.

"You want us to sh-...?" He stopped midsentence and looked down at what fell out of her pocket.

The Joker blinked then grabbed ahold of Nichole's face and throwing her backwards into the wall across the room. "You are making bombs!?! What are you trying to do kill me? AH HAHAHAH! Well isn't that just a thing to do on a night off!?"

_Wait wait wait. The Joker thought my music player was a bomb?_

"No! No no! It's an I-I-Ipod. Music play-...player!" She sat up feeling the back of her head. She brought her hand forward and it had speckles of blood on it.

_Great._

The Joker bent down picking up the music player and examining it. "How does it work? And how do I know your not lying? Cause you _knooooow _I do not like liers. Not. One. Bit-_tah_...." He glared at her.

The look in his eyes caused her again to lose her thoughts. She shuddered. How that one look of his could cause her heart to race, her breathing to stop, and her mind to shut down, was very scary.

When she didn't respond he merely laughed. "Oh come on now I was just **joking**. I know you aren't lying. I can tell when you lie. You really are bad at it. Might wanna work on it." He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. He walked over to her offering a hand to help her up.

She took it, and he let go halfway of her standing up. She fell backwards her head hitting the wall once again on the same spot she hit it a few minutes ago. "AH! Ouuuch! What the HELL?"

She rubbed her head as the Joker laughed. "HA! Hahaha! That one never gets old." He wiped a fake tear away from his eye.

She stood up herself a hand pressing into the back of her head to stop the blood from flowing out. "It's not funny. That hurt."

"Nichole...you really aren't making an effort tonight are you? I really just want to....wrap my hands around your throat-" His extended his hands out. They were inches from her throat. She backed up into the wall behind her nervously. "-and cause you to squeal, _but-tah_....I promised I wouldn't tonight. Well at least not yet." His hands then were on the wall on either side of her head boxing her in. "Don't make me go back on my word. I don't like to go back on it. But you keep making it increasingly hard. Nichole your more trouble then your worth sometimes."

He backed away. "So I ask you again how does this work?" He pointed to the Ipod.

"I-I'd have to plug it into speakers. Then it plays music."

"Well go get them. I suddenly find myself in the mood for some tunes." He grinned.

_This isn't fucking good. _She thought as she looked at his smile.

She nodded and quickly obeyed going upstairs retrieving the small speakers that came with her music player, that she hid under his bed as well. She took the Ipod from his hands hesitantly and plugged the speakers into them; then setting it on the side table of the living room and turning the it on. She set it to 'Shuffle songs', so she wouldn't have to go through the hassle of picking out a song.

"Ok all set. Its set to random so-" She gasped upong hearing the song coming out.

_Of course what else would come on at a time like this? A slow song._ She face palmed, hearing the Joker erupt into another one of his laughing fits. He clearly was enjoying this.

"Here I'll just change the song-" She started, but the Joker interrupted her. "Oh no no, this is fiiiiiine_-nah_. Are you a dancer Nichole? You certainly have the body for one." He stalked slowly towards her.

"I-...I don't dance sorry to disappoint." She said in a matter-of-fact tone, hopping that would make him lose that mischievous glint in his eyes, but he didn't.

"Don't worry Nichole. I don't either but I'm **sure** we can teach each other."

He wrapped both arms around her waist and rested his hands on her back right above her bottom. She hesitantly wrapped her arms around his neck, fearing if she didn't there would be hell to pay. He grinned at the fear and disgust in her eyes. He pulled her closer to him and her face was pushed into his left shoulder. She tilted her head to the side so she could breath, and lifted her head up so it didn't touch his chest. When she did though she got a whiff of the usual Joker smell of dirt and explosives. A dangerous smell to a dangerous man.

He began to sway her back and forth as they awkwardly slow danced to the song. Her feet moved as they swayed in a circle slowly. He was leading of course. The Joker was surprised he could dance so well. Oh him, just another one of his talents he can do. He amazed himself sometimes.

She felt her nerves die down slowly as they danced. The fact the music was playing calmed her down. Music in general calmed her down. She didn't realize it but she relaxed in his arms and leaned more of her weight into him, letting her head now freely rest on his chest. He tensed up not expecting this and looked down at Nichole.

Her eyes were shut and he swore he could see her smiling. But she was still breathing very heavily. So she was still nervous, but yet she looked calm and peaceful..and even dare he think...Happy? He let his hands caress her back. One hand moving up to her upper back and the other being a little mischievous and grabbing at her ass.

She instantly took one of her hands out from around his neck and grabbed ahold of the hand goosing her bottom and placed it up higher, before returning her hand to around her neck. He let out a laugh at her sudden bravery, but muffled it by burying his mouth on the top of her head.

She kept her eyes shut, now realizing she was leaning into the Joker. Realizing she could feel his bare hands on her backside, since she was wearing a tank top, and realizing how warm his touch was on her. Her heart beat was normal speed, for once and she didn't feel nervous or scared. She felt calm for once.

Music was playing and she was in the arms of this madman, actually having her fear slightly drained?

It had to be the music. The only thing on earth that calms her down. The same thing she used when she went into the bathroom at the party to calm down. That was her explanation. She was so into it, she forgot for a moment who she was dancing with. She thought she was just dancing with a person, and not a mass murdering clown.

Though she also, in her mind, was picturing she was dancing with Tom and not the Joker at the moment; so that might be helping that fact too.

They continued to slow dance, even though an upbeat song began to play; They did not change pace. He made no sounds and neither did she. Calming as it was to her, she still posessed the fear inside of her.

After about ten minutes he stopped moving and loosened his hold on her.

She took this as a sign to back up and did so opening her eyes. She met his eyes and held back a gasp. He looked calm, and his dark eyes almost seemed human.

_Almost._

His makeup took that away from him.

She now blushed thinking about how stupid she had been to actually be calm and let her guard down slightly in his arms for a moment. She hated him.

_Oh stupid music!_ She cursed mentally.

Her heart rate turned back into its rapid beating.

She turned off the music. "Well, uh.....I got a movie for us to watch."

He sat down on the couch, still smirking "Oh? And what movie would that be, and I should warn you I really am not a movie person."

_I fucking knew it! I knew he wasn't a movie person! Oh I am fucking good. But hopefully this movie wold pique his interest. It had blood, violence, songs, theatricality, and most of all it had razor blades, and a song about them. Razor blades, knives. Same thing. And the Joker has told me many times he loved knives. _She told herself, trying to give herself some hope.

She turned the television on along with the DVD player and started the movie. She pressed 'play' and shut the lights off in the room.

Nichole sat down next to the Joker on the couch trying to keep her distance. Until she felt two arms scoop her up and place her back down, on the Joker's lap. He made her face the television. Her legs dangling off the couch on his. Both his arms wrapped around her waist and he pushed her head back into his shoulder where it rested. He was leaning back on the couch resting his head on the not even slightly comfty backboard of it.

She sighed, giving in and leaning her weight into him. Even she had to admit his shoulder was comfortable, and his body gave off a heat that transfered into her, making her feel extra comfortable. Today's hussle and bussle was starting to catch up to her.

As they watched the movie she heard him make comments through it. The part where Sweeney Todd sung about his razor blades, she heard him mutter. "Cheap cheap cheap. Get the good kind of knives."

The part where Sweeney started killing people really made the Joker interested. He cheered as each person died, causing Nichole to laugh. And he also well.......He got so happy to see people being killed by the good ole blades she felt something. He got a rise out of the action and got well....a little to "happy" down under so to speak. She blushed with embarrassment and felt very awkward, but the Joker didn't seem to care or in fact notice.

"Well Nichole." He said softly to her while a non-actiony scene was playing. "Today has been a very...interesting day."

She gulped.

_Oh no. Here comes to verdict._

"Interesting?" She asked.

She felt him nod. "Yes and I must say you wore me out. Tonight I loathe to admit it, but....you _uh_...win. I was quite entertained by your clumsiness, your temper, dance moves and your cooking skills. True to my word you get the rest of the night off. But first I want to see how this movie ends. There better be more killings! I don't give a damn about this scene about "By The Sea". The female in this movie is not capturing a theatrical look! Just a homeless woman look." He scoffed.

She laughed, feeling a wave of relief sweep over her. Tonight she would be free to be away from the Joker. Nothing would happen tonight at all. She had won.

_Finally....I beat his own game!_

The Joker licked his lips, feeling Nichole lean back more and hearing her let out a sigh of relief. He didn't like that she was happy about this. It was time to make her nervous again.

"Well Nichole I want to let you in on something. You may have won the battle, but you certainly haven't won the war." He glanced over at the clock. "And besides in one hour, it is tomorrow. I said you have the rest of the night_-tah_...off. Well in an hour it's morning." He laughed.

She tensed up against him. "No...you wouldn't."

"Oh I would!" He giggled, patting her stomach with one of the hands resting on it.

"Please....Please I worked so hard today. I am so tired and I think I'd die if you-"

"Nichole what did I tell you about my feelings towards whiners?"

"You hate them...."

"Quite right...and uh what were you just doing?" He asked her talking as if he were talking to a five year old he was trying to get an answer out of.

"....begging...."

"Nichole..." He said angrily.

"Whining..." she gulped

"There we go!" He leaned his head down and quickly kissed the side of her cheek to mock her. "...now give me one good reason why I shouldn't."

"Because.....Because." She had to think for a few seconds. She had to talk her way out of it. "Because I worked so hard on this today, and I...I am so tired, and if you were to do this to me, I would just give in, lay there and let you. I wouldn't fight back because I wouldn't have the energy to. So....why not just wait till tomorrow night or something, when I would fight back like normal."

Pause.

"You have a point...." He stated amazed at how right she sounded. Nichole was amazed of how calmly she could speak of possibly getting raped by the Joker tomorrow, but she knew what she said was very _very_ good and made sense.

At least...she hoped.

"Ok then." the Joker licked his lips. Nichole smiled.

_Yes!_ She had won. _Again! Nothing would happen tonight! I just have to worry for tomorrow night! But tonight I can sleep in peace!_

She leaned back, her eyes shutting involuntarily.

_Speaking of being tired....._

She was exhausted. She could fall asleep right now on the Joker's lap, and that is exactly what happened.

The movie ended and the Joker looked down at the sleeping Nichole.

"Sweet dreams Nichole." He said sadistically. He leaned back more shutting his eyes, figuring he might as well fall asleep here too.

How funny it was. She got the night off and would freely be able to fall asleep alone withtout the Joker near her, and yet she chooses to fall asleep on his lap.

So much for night off.

Today was a wonderful day for him.

Not just because of what fun Nichole and him had, but what he had been doing while Nichole was out getting stuff ready for the night. The events that happened all morning and afternoon.

How he had completely made Tom loose it with one little video tape.....

* * *

**Kait:** _(sighs)_ Cliffhanger. Sorry. I didn't mean to!

**Meg:** I WOULD ENJOY DANCING WITH HIM _(picks the Joker up and dances with him)_

**Joker: **Get off!_ (pushes her) _I hate dancing!

**Kait: **Credit goes to **Varrica **for the word of "Nicandy" Really really love it and thanks for the idea!


	23. The Video Tape

**Kait: **Tra-la-la-la

**Meg: **Kait...why are you in such a good mood? Its kinda scary.

**Joker:** Yeah even uh, scary for me. _(shivers in his boots)_

**Kait:** I am just oh so excited to write this chapter, and I have no idea why. This chapter shows us what the Joker did while Nichole had been shopping all day getting stuff ready. So yeah backtracking, but I still am so excited! Carlos, the guy who was hired by Tom to find out the Joker's location returns in this chapter, along with Tom himself. Its just a reunion folks! And everything in italics later on will be what was on the tape, so you don't get confused.

* * *

**Chapter 23**

Carlos drummed his fingers on his desk growing impatient as the minutes seemed to tick along on his clock.

He smushed the cigarrette he had in his hand onto his ash tray idley.

"Damn boy is late." He muttered under his breath. He had asked Tom to stop by his office about a half hour ago and he was late, like usual.

"I think anyone would be late trying to come _here_. This building is very hard to find, but I seemed to mange alright." The Joker said entering the room, with two of his own men on either side of him holding their guns at the ready.

Carlos almost shot out of his chair in fright. He stood up holding one hand on his desk to keep himself from falling to the ground. He kept his other hand on his leg to stop it from shaking.

"J-J-J-Joker! W-W-What are you d-d-doing here?" He stammered out.

The Joker raised an eyebrow tilting his head, walking closer to the desk. Carlos took note of the tiny pocketknife the Joker held in his right hand tightly, and all the color in his face drained.

He slowly and slyly tried to reach in his desk drawer to pull out his own gun.

"Don't even try it!" One of the Joker's men yelled catching Carlos in the act and releasing the safty on his gun.

He threw his hands up in desperation and embarrassment.

"You have the uh,** nerve** to ask me what I am doing here? Shouldn't it be crystal clear to you?" The Joker walked around the desk to be on the same side as Carlos and began to walk towards him more. Carlos backed up, being cornered in by the clown.

"Ok...Ok ok ok look! I know I t-t-told that Tom kid your location, but...But have you seen the guy? He has a stab wound and he is a bit of a slow one! I knew that he would never be a challenge to you he is weak!"

The Joker looked at his gloved fingers faking interest in them. "Oh I am very well acquainted with ole Tommy boy, but Carlos did it ever dawn on you its the principle of the thing? I trusted you to keep your big mouth shut when it came to things like this, and what do you do? Why you sold me out for a bit of cash! People and money these days. You shove a wad of cash in someone's face and suddenly all lines of loyalty vanish."

"But Joker, I...I thought you would understand! He is weak and of no danger to you! The lad doesn't even know how to use a gun!"

The Joker rummaged through the files and papers on Carlos's desk looking for things of interest. His men kept their guns pointed at the nervous Carlos.

"I am very well aware he is weak my little traitor, but-...." He picked up a piece of paper grinning at the subject written on it, then turned the paper so Carlos and his men could see. "It appears you, uh....were going to help Tom in that department as well."

The paper had the title, 'How To Use A Gun' and was very detailed with pictures and descriptions on how to use a hand gun, for hunting of course. Nothing on the paper said anything about killing a man. But to Tom the Joker wasn't a man, he was a monster that needed to be hunted. So really there was no flaw in the paper from Tom's point of view.

Carlos's now pale face turned a bit greenish, and the man looked like he was going to be sick. "J-Joker I-....I was only-"

The Joker raised a hand in the air signaling him to stop talking. "Save your excuses for someone who wants to hear it. Besides your backstabbing isn't why I came here. I need you to do something for me, and hey if you do this right, I **might **be in a generous mood and let this act of treason float away and make it as if it never happened." He dropped the paper in his hands and reached into his coat pocket for something.

"Oh sir. I'll do anything! Anything you ask of me-"

"Here." The Joker interrupted the man again, with his hand extended holding a video tape in it.

Carlos took it looking rather confused.

"What do you want me to do with this?"

The Joker placed his hands behind his back and began to pace around the room eyeing the cheap paintings on the wall. "I know for a fact this building you use now for you little, 'Private Eye' work." He made quotation marks in the air. "Used to be an old police station, so therefore this place must have an interrogation room, with a one way mirror in it? Perhaps?" The Joker turned to face Carlos and lowered his head giving the man a slight glare waiting for an answer.

It took Carlos a good two seconds to comprehend what the Joker was asking before he answered. "Oh! Yes yes of course this place has one! It's down the hall, and the room next to it is the room you can watch whoever is in the interrogation room without them knowing!.....But why do you need to use-"

"I want you to put a television in there and place little Tommy boy in there and play the tape. I'll be in the room next to it watching him watch the tape. I always do love a good show. There would be no fun at all if I handed you the tape and was on my merry way, and besides....How can I trust you to play the tape to him. Your record for loyalty has steadily declined theses past few days."

Carlos was already by his television set picking it up by the time the Joker finished. "I can do that for you, a-a-and I promise if you let me have a second chance I will not disappoint you."

"A ta-ta. No begging please, I've had quite enough of that. All last night I heard begging and it took every bone in my body to not strangle her." The Joker and his men followed Carlos down the hallway into an old beat up interrogation room, that had a single table off to the side, and one single chair by it. Carlos placed the television on the table and plugged it into an outlet.

"Who's been begging you Joker?" Carlos asked, trying to start up some small chat. He hoped that maybe if he was extra nice to the Joker, he'd let Carlos live. It was a small chance, but whatever chance you have for life, he'd take.

"The very person Tommy boy is trying to get back. Honestly him going all noble to save his 'damsel in distress' is a bit annoying."

"Oh Nichole?....I-i-is she still....still" He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Still alive? Why surprisingly yes she is. She is just so fun to mess with, I couldn't bring myself to kill her......well not yet at least." He laughed, slapping Carlos's back, making him flinch.

Carlos held in his sigh of relief. He was glad Nichole was still alive. Even though he helped the Joker many times in life, he really wasn't that bad of a guy. He just got into one of those, wrong place wrong time situations and ended up having to help the Joker or be killed. That's why he was glad Nichole was alive. She was in the same type of situation as him. Wrong place (the party), wrong time and now on the verge of death.

A distance voice called from another room. "Carlos? Where are you? Sorry I'm late!" Tom called.

This caused a very sick grin to appear on the Joker's face. He spoke in a soft tone of voice now to keep Tom from hearing him, "It appears the show has arrived. Me and my boys will just go into the other room where we can watch through the one way mirror it." The Joker turned to exit the current room, but Carlos stopped him with his voice quietly.

"Wait! What do I tell Tom?"

The Joker walked over to Carlos, towering over him and said in a very serious and humorless tone that made Carlos shake. "Use. Your. _Imagination-nah_."

With that being said, the Joker left the room and went into the one next to it grabbing a chair and sitting in front of the wide one way mirror. He grinned watching Tom enter the room.

"Carlos what you doing in here?"

It took Carlos a moment to recompose his heart. "Tom.....I have to tell you something." He turned so his back was to Tom. He didn't think he'd be able to keep a straight face. He grabbed the video tape and held it up in the air. "I got this in the mail today."

"What....what is it?" Tom asked curiously.

"It....It came from The Joker..."

At the word "Joker", Tom's face got very red and his mouth hung slightly open.

The Joker laughed and was very thankful the room he was in, was sound proof. The room echoed with his laughter. His men grabbed two chairs and sat a little ways behind the Joker watching as well, but not really finding the humor in it.

"...What's on it?" Tom roared with anger.

"I didn't watch it...I- I was about to, but I figured it be best if you did. After all it had your name on it."

The two men stared at the tape in silence, not really sure what to speak of. Tom walked over and grabbed the chair at the table pulling back a tad so he could be in front of the television set. "Well....Let's see it."

The Joker bit his glove to suppress his laughter. He had to contain himself enough so he could hear Tom's reaction to it.

Carlos placed the tape into the tape player, built into the TV and pressed play. He then went into the back of the room and leaned against the wall. He knew without even having seen it yet, this would not be good. Not be good at all.

_A fuzzy white screen stayed on the screen for about a minute. _

Tom grew impatient and was about to press fast forward, until The Joker's face popped up on screen. It was rather close and shaky, due to the fact the Joker was holding the camera himself.

"_Hello Tom.....remember me?"_

Tom glares angerly at the screen, nodding his head without realizing it.

"_Of course you do. How could you forget me? I have your little broad with me. Oh and hey how's your stomach? The stab wound healing alright? I hope it scars. Cause then when people ask you about the scar, you have a story to tell them!"_

Carlos left the room silently and went into the room The Joker was in, not really wanting to be with Tom at the moment. If this tape made Tom angry, which it was bound to do, he didn't want to be in the line of fire.

"_Well I might as well get to my point_-tah_ Tom. You must know by now this City is mine. Gotham is under my control whether you and all its other inhabitants will admit it. That being said I have my spys everywhere Tom, and one of them told me something interesting. You checked yourself out of the hospital and ran away from protective custody! I thought to myself, when I heard this, how hilarious! Tommy boy doesn't want to be under protective custody with the cops. He wants to fend for himself against me."_

Tom gripped the armrests on his chair trying to control his anger and hate for the man on the television screen. He wanted to chuck his chair at the screen, but then he would miss the point the Joker was trying to make.

"_And theeeeeeen-nah a little birdy told me you hired someone to find out my location, so that you could try and take me on by yourself. You want to try and kill me Tommy boy. Don't lie now, that is your true intend. Yes, you do want to save your lover girl, but when I stabbed you I guess you took it a little too personal. I have nothing against you Tom, really I don't. It's just you were my ace in the hold. My pawn. To get Nichole I needed you."_

Tom's body shook furiously, at many things. The fact he used the word "Nichole" and the fact he was mocking him via a video tape.

_The Joker laughed, his disturbing yellow teeth taking up most of the screen. "Sooo I want to tell you Tom, no no more like warn you, to not come after me. Its not that I'm worried about my well being; that's not the issue at hand at all. The reason I don't want you to come after me is quite simple. It's her-"_

_The Joker turned the camera around to show a very sleeping Nichole laying down on the Joker's bed. The Joker had removed the blanket over her after a moment to expose her body. She was only in a bra and underwear. Her body was bruised in many places and had a few cuts and scrapes here and there. Hickeys were even visible._

Tom gasped, shaking even more seeing Nichole harmed like that. His mind wasn't working properly though at the moment, so the fact she was only in a bra and underwear really didn't dawn on him, nor did he really notice.

"_You see Tom, if you try and harm me...I will harm her, and maybe even kill her. But what I really haven't decided is-" The camera panned her body more taking in every cut and bruise and zooming in on them to emphasize their severity. "-If you come here and when I catch you, who to kill first. Would I kill you first and let her watch you die, and then kill her. Or kill her first so you can live with the guilt for about an hour and then slowly kill you. It is a tough choice for me, but I think I will just wing it when the time comes.....and more importantly **IF** it comes. That's why I am making this tape Tom....telling you not to come and try to be the "hero", just let nature take its course and let Nichole die, when I grow bored of her." _

_The camera turned back around and the Joker's face was now back on the screen. He gave a serious look at the camera, and then licked his scars._

Tom sighed, his muscles relaxing. If the Joker was going to play it that way, maybe he should contact the police, and try to get Nichole back that way. As much as he wanted revenge on the Joker and to kill him brutally, he didn't want Nichole to get hurt if he failed.

"_Well...that concludes my little warning, but I do have a little thing to share with you, that HOPEFULLY helps you in deciding whether you should try and kill me or not. I think that this really will help persuade you." The Joker cruelly laughed as the screen shut off and was the white fuzzy mess for another two seconds._

_The screen came back on and it cut to what looked like a living area somewhere. It had an old beat up couch and there sitting on the couch was Nichole and the Joker. They were watching television, apparent by the glow coming off it and the sound it was making. Both their eyes fixed on it._

_Whatever was on the television, Nichole wasn't enjoying it. Her face was somewhere in between shock and disgust. The Joker was clearly enjoying it, having a laughing fit._

_The Joker flicked the television off, turning to Nichole licking his lips._

"_You wanna know something?....." He leaned his face in closer. Nichole tried to lean to her other side to get farther away from him, but he crept a hand up behind her head and pulled her face in closer."When I was at the bank and I saw you doing all that criminal work, it really made me think you looked quiet...how do I put this, hot-tah.....But watching you on the television screen doing that....its **intoxicating**. It really....turns...me on-nah."_

_And then the Joker began to kiss her roughly. Nichole squirmed trying to get out of his grip, but his hands held her in her position._

Tom sat there in shock.

Anger and shock.

His face turned redder and redder as the tape continued. T

he Joker bounced up and down in his seat watching Tom, laughing manically. Carlos reached in his pocket pulling out a cigarette, looking away from the television and the Joker, not wanting to see this tragic thing. The Joker's men were leaning forward in their chairs and were enjoying this as well. Their manly pig minds thought of this as a nice porno.

_The Joker was now on top of Nichole taking off articles of his clothes. Nichole struggled underneath him trying to escape. He was pushing her down by her chest as he took off his tie._

_She let out a scream. "No!" she chanted._

"_Now listen babe..." He started. "This would be a whole lot easier if you just stopped all this denial to your true feelings about me." _

"_You pig!" she screamed, as he took off her dress. She tried kicking him, but he was putting too much weight on her legs and stomach._

Nichole would be in shock if she saw this tape herself. Many things she said that night he raped her the second time, she hadn't realized she said. She was too caught up in the moment to even be listening to anything coming out of her mouth.

Tom clenched his teeth together. It looked like he was about to have a stroke.

_Nichole said something to the Joker, but it was too soft to be caught by the camera. A mumble was all that was heard. The Joker lifted his head up slightly and looked down at her. "Nichole when are you going to learn? I can do anything. This is my city, and you my babe...belong to me."_

_And the initial act began. The Joker entered her and thrusted up and down. Nichole was screaming and groaning in agony. "Uh god stop it! Stop it please!" She pleaded, but he ignored her. "Are you deaf!? Are you not human!? I said stop it! You're hurting me! STOP!" She screamed._

Tom's face was now just about purple. His hands were so tight on the armrest of his chair, the old wood broke in his grip and scattered into a hundred pieces on the floor. Tom stood up and threw his chair across the room. The Joker almost fell out of _his _chair laughing. His eyes blurred from the tears of joy in his eyes.

_Nichole was able to somehow knock the Joke off of her and crawled off the couch. Her tear stained face more visable to the hidden camera. _

_"No leave me alone!" She screamed crawling away. The Joker was back on her within seconds, his belt wrapped around her neck and he pulled her back into him. He held her thighs so tightly blood was pouring out from his sharp fingernails._

_Nichole cried in pain as he continued what he was doing. He thrusted harder laughing more. "You've been a bad girl." He chanted to her in his husky voice. "That's why im teaching you a lesson or two! Ha Ha!"_

_He leaned foreward on her, resting his chest on her back as he continued to enter her. After a few moments, of hearing just his pants and growls and Nichole's muffled screams and sobs, Nichole used her elbow and elbowed him in the stomach. He fell backwards, holding onto his stomach, with the wind knocked out of him._

_She started to crawl away and at the last moment she stood up and started to run. She ran out of the frame of the camera and within a few seconds the Joker rubbed his gut once more and then went chasing after her. _

_In the backround, her screams were heard as well as the rest of the act._

_The tape then ended. _

_The white fuzzy snow filling the screen._

Tom yelled at the top of his lungs, furious. "I'll kill 'im! I'll kill the bastard!" He shouted running over to the wall and kicking it. He took the broken chair and beat it into the ground. **"FUCKING FUCKER! I'll FUCKING KILL 'IM!"**

Tom punched the wall, with enough force to break his own hand. Blood gushed out of his knuckles.

Carlos took a puff of his cigarette, staring at the floor.

The Joker, was literally now on the ground laughing, kicking his legs about holding his sides. They hurt from all his laughter.

Tom sank to the floor, curling up into a ball and cried. Not a silent one, but a full forced sob.

"Nichole...." He sobbed, repeating her name over and over again. "Nichole, I'm so sorry. Forgive me _Nichole.....Forgive me...."_

The Joker stood up brushing off his shoulders walking over to Carlos. "Well what did you think of our little show? Quite entertaining eh? I thought so too. I give it a nine out of ten though, the editing in it took away from the show, I mean having to wait a minute for it to begin? Rip off!" He laughed more at his joke.

Carlos dropped his bud. "How...could you do that to him....and not only him but to her?" As much as Carlos wanted to just keep his mouth shut and save his own skin, he had to speak up. What the Joker was doing was unbelievable and inhuman.

"Easy...I just did it." He laughed, patting his eyes with his gloved hands removing the final tears of joy. "And it was really worth it. Every second I spent here was worth it." He noticed Carlos's saddened eyes. "Oh but you don't feel that way. You think what I did was wrong eh?"

It took him a moment, but Carlos nodded and then let out an inconspicuous gulp. He stares at the Joker trying to act brave, but the hideous grin placed upon his face made it hard.

"Hey.....You seem a bit well, uh...nervous. Is it my scars? I don't believe you have heard the story of how I got them...."

Pure terror filled Carlos's eyes, as he slowly made his way till he was right in front of him. A knife plainly in his hands. "Well do you wanna know how I got them?"

Carlos shook his head, but the Joker wasn't having any of that. He placed his knife by the edge of Carlos's mouth, and his other hand snaked around his head pushing him into the knife.

"You see.....I was in a gang. A real hot shot gang back in the day. My leader trusted me with his life, and I was always giving my undying loyalty to them.....That is until one day when they decide to rape and kill an innocent women, that happened to be walking down the ally way we claimed as our turf. I didn't like the situation. At all. I told on them to the cops; my good citizen side of me coming out at last." He bowed his head. "But my leader found out. And he wasn't happy. Not. One. Bit. So he grabs the knife they had used to kill the women, stick it in my mouth and tell me that I take everything too seriously. I can't take a joke. So they say I need to look at the dead womens body and smile. But I couldn't. I was too weak. So....they wanted to help me smile.........So they-"

Carlos shrieked, before the Joker could continue. "No no please don't do it! Don't!"

The Joker lowered his head. "I think I am going to pass on their lesson to me, on to you. You need to stop being so serious and **SMILE!"**

He lifted his knife into Carlos'scheek, cutting it deeply sawing away at the muscle, Carlos clenched his mouthshut, screaming, not wanting to open his mouth for the fear of tearing his skin more. The Joker laughed manically as he peered at his finished work. He smacked his lips together.

"Nope, Nope still not feeling it." He plunged his knife into Carlos's neck, killing him instantly.

He rolled his eyes bending down and picking up his bloody knife, turning to his men motioning them to follow him. "Well boys, let's leave Tommy boy to discover the body. Maybe it will brighten his mood. Oh wait!-"

The Joker took some of the blood now seeping on the floor and wrote a series of "HA! HA!"'s on the walls and floors.

He took a step back to admire his work. "Beautiful. Simply _bea-u-ti-ful."_

Turning on his heel, he left humming happily to himself.

Today had been a marvelous day for him.

But somewhat tiring.

Before handing Tom the tape and coming to this office, he had been busy setting up explosives and such.

He was rather tired now as they went back into their beat up old van. A thought popped into his head.

Nichole.....

Nichole was busy away setting up for him. The task he asked her to do. Entertain her.

Ha! As if that could actually happen.

But he wasn't in the mood to fight with her. He wasn't in the mood to tell her when something was boring or dull. He wanted to curl up into a ball and fall asleep thank you very much, but he was going to play along. And maybe he would just fake his entertainment. Give Nichole happy hopes that she could actually keep him busy and happy.

Loosen her up.

Give her a feeling of comfort.

Let her think she could understand him. He was prepared to be the best actor ever tonight, but it would be a difficult task. Acting entertained when something bugs the hell out of you is not easy. He would see soon enough what stupidness he would walk into. She probably is going to make him watch a movie? How insulting. Movies and him do not clash, regardless the topic.

* * *

**Kait: **Long chapter. But see I tried to make it clear that this chapter explained that in the previous chapter the Joker was lying. He wasn't amused or entertained by Nichole. It was all an act, to make her feel good. And the fact he was dead tired stopped him from doing anything to her.


	24. The First Life Lesson

**Kait: **One thing I want to point out though is, Nichole in the mornings I have tried to show it that, she doesn't think straight and ends up saying whatever is on her mind around the Joker, and not choosing her words carefully. So just keep that in mind while reading this.

**Nichole:** Yeah. Just remember how much of an idiot I am. _(thumbs up and smiles)_

**Meg:** And we used the name "Carlisle" because Kait and I love that name. Me from Twilight, (Sorry Kait don't hit me cause i love that book) and she likes it because it's the name of some main guy in one of her foriegn movies...(_rolls eyes)__

* * *

_**Chapter 24**

Opening her eyes was the hardest. She simply did not want to get up, but she heard the sound of someone making food. The scraping of a wooden spoon on a metal pan.

Her body felt sore as if she slept in a odd position.

She opened her eyes, now realizing she was on the couch.

It hit her. She had fallen asleep on the Joker's lap.

Nichole could not hide the disgusted face that appeared on her.

She had been just so tired last night, she couldn't help it. Her eyes shut as the movie was towards the end and she just drifted off to sleep. To be honest his lap was quite comfortable, his cloths not itchy or uncomfortable against her skin, but the fact of the matter is she hated the man who wore the clothes. She hated how much it must have amused him that she fell asleep on him. She didn't want him to get the wrong idea that she actually liked it.

_Ugh. That would be too gross for words._ She thought, feeling sick.

Nichole stretched out the kinks in her body before sitting up fully.

_I wonder when he left last night. I wonder if he fell asleep as well and then woke up less than an hour ago and pushed me to the side to stand up. Or did he upon seeing me fall asleep get the hell outta the room?_ She questioned silently to herself.

She stood up fully, slowly making her way to the kitchen. Surprisingly it was The Joker himself making food and not one of his men. In the utter awe of the situation, she sat down quietly watching him work on the eggs in the frying pan.

But of course, The Joker, and his inhuman senses, was able to tell Nichole was in the room despite the fact she was as quiet as a cat stalking its prey. He didn't even turn from his pan as he spoke. "Sleep well my little Nicandy? You looked rather _uh_, comfortable last night." He laughed to himself.

She was going to be honest and tell him that in fact she was comfortable last night, but eager not to make him pleased more she lied. "Actually it was terrible. My back is now hurting quite a lot to be honest."

He brought the pan of slightly burnt eggs over to the table and rolled his eyes. "Babe, I don't think you are justified to complain. After all you are the one who chose to sleep on my lap. I do recall you fell asleep with a smile on your face. What did sleeping on my lap remind you of sitting on Santa's lap when you were little or something?" He laughed more. "But the _point-tah_...is you picked the spot to sleep, I told you, you had the night off and yet you sleep on my lap. Irony is put into play indeed. Because I thought....you uh hate me." He wiggled his eye brows up and down suggestively, as he dumped some of the eggs in the pan on the two plates set on the table.

"Oh I do!..." She snapped at him, her face growing red.

He faked a sad look. "Well you don't have to yell. You hurt my poor ears." He stuck his ungloved finger in his ear and dug around a bit in it, then pulled it out, examined his finger, and then wiped whatever was on it on his vest.

Nichole put on a horrified expression.

_How repulsive he is!_

"But Nikki, you never answered me. I told you, you had the night off and then you still slept with me. Are you finally showing your true side and telling me you can't live without me?" He brought a hand to over his heart melodramtically, before he scooped up his eggs in his hands and shoved them into his mouth. No silverware present on the table, and even if there was Nichole doubted he would use it.

She peered down at her brownish eggs while she spoke and she decided to be completely honest with him, not caring if she would get a hard smack to the face. "I fell asleep on your lap because I was so tired. Before you told me I had the night off the fear of possibly being.....attacked by you was keeping me up and alert, but as soon as you said I was free for the night and that I had won, the fear drained out of my system and I couldn't help but fall asleep." Nichole decided to use the word "attack" rather then "rape". She didn't exactly know how the Joker would respond to that word being shot at him, and she didn't know if she could say it without irritation. If she was going to be honest, using an irritated tone wasn't a good choice.

The Joker snorted. "How did you even know I was telling you the truth? I could have easily waited till you were sleeping and got you in your weak and helpless state."

She blinked, peering into his dark eyes surrounded by his stupid black makeup. Nichole stayed locked in his intense gaze, for what seemed like five minutes.

The words just came out without her even thinking twice. "I don't know I just....I just kind of trusted your word. In the past when you have told me something you stay true to your word. Like that time in the police station. You told me to stay close to you when you gave a sign, and I did so. If I hadn't listen to you I might have gotten seriously hurt. I have no idea why, but....you tell the truth, even when people don't believe the truth. You may be a villain, a criminal, a bad guy, but you are truthful. Not the lying type. I don't understand you at all."

He titled his head narrowing his eyes. "Don't try to understand me....It's impossible....you and countless others try but you can't." He reached under the table and grabbed something. He then threw it at Nichole.

It hit her face, causing the Joker to go into a fit of laughter. "Bad reflexes Nichole? **HA!** Bad quality to have."

She glares at him picking up the object he threw at her which she could now see was a newspaper. She peered at the headline. _"A Doctor's Take On The Joker's Mind"._The article was all about some Dr. Carlisle's thoughts on the Joker and what he was about. His theory was the Joker was abused or neglected as a child, and the scars were self inflicted. She set the paper down as she finished the article.

The Joker pursed his lips together. "See? People in this world. They try to understand what they can't understand. They try to understand what they fear, because if they do that, then they think they will not fear it anymore. Well....I bet this Dr. Carlisle, would piss his pants if I were to blow up his office building." He chuckled.

Nichole groaned rolling her eyes. "Okay okay I get the point I won't try to understand you. But you don't realize how frustrating it is."

_Oops._ She hadn't meant to say that. _That was a little too honest._

Just as she expected his face twisted into a glare. "You seem rather snippy this morning. Maybe I should remove your tongue for a while and not give it back till you realize how much your words annoy me."

She looked down at the eggs as she slowly put some into her mouth. Swallowing before speaking of course, "Sorry I am just still tired."

He snorted again. "Why are you so tired? In the past you have been tired, but never complained about it-_tah_."

Nichole folded her arms across her chest. "Well yesterday I had to do a lot to prepare for the night. You wouldn't believe it."

He rested both his elbows on the table and put his face in his two hands frowning pretended to be concerned. "Try me. Just try me. Tell me what happened babe."

She was going to drop it, but he wanted answers, so she would give it to him. She faked a smile and counted off his fingers. "I searched through a dump for hours for cans to recycle, I had to run around like a man woman to find food, I had to steal five bucks-"

"YOU STOLE!? Oh you bad bad girl you." He slammed his hands on the table laughing, causing bits of eggs left on the plates to fly up in the air and land scattered on the table. "That's rich! Why didn't you record it? I would kill to see it. I bet you put a little "I'm Sorry" notice where you stole the money, to relieve your guilt. Who'd you steal from? A chruch? A drug dealer? Give me details!"

"It was from a car actually, and I am just _sooooo_ glad you find my suffering to be hilarious and entetaining." She said saracastically.

"Oh come on Nikki. That stuff isn't hard at all. I could do that with my hands tied behind my back and a blind fold over my eyes." He placed his hands over his eyes to mimic a blind fold.

She glared and spoke without thinking, "I bet what I did was harder than blowing up a freaking building!"

That was the worst possible word choice for her sentence ever.

She knew it as soon as the word "building" left her mouth.

His mouth formed a grin, his yellow teeth flashing her.

_OH FUCK!_ She panicked.

"I accept that bet!" He stood up in an instance.

"WHAT?!"

"Don't make bets you don't wanna live up to. First life lesson Nikki." He walked over grabbing her wrist with his gloved hand. He tightly tugged on her, yanking her from her seat towards the front door.

She struggled to back away from him. "Wha- Where are we going?

"To show you how hard it is to blow up a building, and you're in luck that I was going to blow up one anyways today. Wasn't going to bring you, but hey now that you want to-."

"I don't want-"

He shoved her into the front seat of the van, slamming the door behind her. It hit her leg pretty hard and she bit her lip to conceal the pain. The Joker didn't return to the van until five minutes later. He had throw something into the back seats.

"Get changed now." He ordered as he started the engine.

Nichole climbed into the backseat, seeing he had gotten her Candy outfit and makeup. She sighed eyeing in the way _way_ back seat, a ton of explosives, realizing he was being serious about blowing a building up.

She took off her shirt and pants and tried to fit on her candy dress. She could see out of the corner of her eye the Joker was looking at her in his rear view mirror.

_The filthy pig!_

She started on her makeup, which was extremely hard because she had no mirror and the Joker's driving caused her to thrash back and forth through out the back seats.

It was the sudden slam on the brakes that caused her to fly in between the drivers and passenger seat. Her head went to the car floor, and her butt was sticking up in the air. She could just tell the Joker was looking down her dress at this point.

"Ouch!" She tried to get back up, but the Joker brought a hand down on her waist to keep her like that.

"Babe stay like that for a few, I'm admiring artwork here."

Nichole growled sitting back up. "Let's just get this over with."

"Impatient today are we? We can check off, bad mouthed, irritated, bossy, rude, and unappreciative for today and now we are adding impatient."

"How am I under appreciative?!" She asked in disbelief.

"Did you thank me for my wonder eggs this morning? Nope. But that didn't stop you from eating them."

"They were disgusting! And did I get a thanks for last night? Nope. So we can be called even-"

The Joker grabbed her by the chin, his whole hand covering her mouth. "Quit while your ahead" He growled in a husky and terrifying voice.

Nichole regained all the fear that was in her last night, and was now thinking more clearly.

She could conclude one thing.

She was an idiot.

A complete idiot.

She had just mouthed off countless times to him this morning.

_Time to bite my tongue. _She told herself.

"Now....grab the explosives and follow me...and oh...try not to uh, drop them? Get my drift?" He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth.

She obeyed immediately grabbing the various things and getting out of the van. They were behind a rather tall building that looked like an office building.

She began to worry. If the Joker blew this place up he would kill maybe a thousand people, by the look of the place. She got a better look at a sign posted on the blank brick wall. It read _Gotham Times Newspaper Printing_.

_So this place was where they wrote the Gotham Times and printed them._ It hit her as she thought it out. _Ah-ha! The Joker was going to get his "pay back" for that article written trying to understand him._

_Oh fuck!_

This worried her even more. Apart from the fact that no newspaper will be able to write about the newspaper place being blown up, the people inside. They have families, children, heck even pets. The Joker may kill a thousand today, but he would affect millions.

She had to stop him. By any means necessary.

That was her plan, even if it meant pain for her.

She would not let a crime that she could stop, unfold right before her eyes.

He grabbed the explosives from her hands and placed them at the base of the building at each corner, just not the front of the building, for if he did he would be in broad daylight. Not a wise thing to do.

They headed back into the van and instead of going back to his house they went about a block away and went into another tall building. He lead her through a back entrance and up to the roof. He did not touch her once through out this time. He was too preoccupied with the spare wires he had in his hand.

But he did glance up every so often, just to make sure she was following him.

Once on the roof he threw the spare wires to the ground. He rummaged through his coat pulling out a piece of paper with stuff written on it and a small video camera. Nichole noticed a laptop was already on the roof, hooked up to a bunch of wires.

He handed Nichole the paper, and flicked on the camera. "Now smile Candy. You have to be ready for your close up." He giggled, pressing the record button.

Nichole panicked. She looked down at the paper, then back up to the camera, putting on a straight face. She hoped the red makeup around her eyes would hide the fear in them. She began to read the paper.

"Hello Gotham City-"

"CUT!" He screamed, turning off the camera and glaring at her.

"What did I do!?" Nichole threw her hands up in anger.

"Babe! You gotta do what The Batman does and disguise your voice. Your sweet little Nichole voice isn't scary, and is recognizable. Be creative-vah.....ACTION!" He turned the camera back on.

_What to do. Scary? Southern? Swedish? What type of voice does he want?_ She decided to do something different.

A seductive dreamy voice.

Be eye candy to the viewer.

Sex appeal, yet dangerous.

The Joker might be pleased by it, and forget all about her mouth running off a storm earlier.

But on the negative side it might make him get some ideas for later.

"Hello Gotham City." She dragged out her words and spoke a tad bit quieter then her normal volume, trying add the dreamy and sexual tone to it. "For those of you who don't know me, my name is Candy. I am-..." She raised an eyebrow at the paper. It said for her to say "I am the Joker's bitch".

_Hell no I am not saying that!_ She was definitely going to reword this essay.

"-I am a worker for the Joker." She could see the Joker glare at her, but he kept the camera rolling. "And right now this was going to be him talking to you citizens, but frankly he's too mad at the moment. Certain newspaper articles have been going around. Doctors trying to understand him and trying to tell the people what he is about and why he is the way he is. Well he doesn't like it. At all. He doesn't want to be understood, he just wants you to know that Gotham City belongs to him, and that is pretty much all you need to know. You all belong to him."

"But...to ensure you all get the message that he does not like it when you try to understand him, He is going to blow up The _"Gotham Times Newspaper Printing" _building sky high. There is no way to get out of it, because it is already happening. Too bad. But that's what you get-" she stuttered, it was getting harder and harder to keep a straight face and a faked voice. "when you mess with an agent of chaos. You get chaos. So enjoy it."

The paper had in little parentheses "Blow a kiss to the camera Nikki". She brought up her hand to her mouth and blew a kiss to the camera, her eyes starting to well up.

The Joker laughed turning it off, then clapped his hands together.

"Good show Nikki! You really know how to reel them in!" He laughed more walking over to his laptop and connecting the camera to it.

"What....What are you doing now?" She wiped her eyes. "You can't blow the place up!"

"Of course _I'm_ not going to blow it up. You are." He grinned.

"Wha-!"

The Joker pressed the send button on his computer. "In two seconds this video will be on every channel on the televisions in Gotham. When I say "Now" you press-" He threw her a detonator, "-that button and send the Gotham Times into hell." He grinned as the video played on his laptop, showing live feed of it playing on the news stations.

She shook in her spot, staring down in horror at the detonator. She wasn't going to press it.

_No way....I am not fucking doing this._

She wasn't going to kill people. She looked over the ledge of the building.

If she threw the detonator off the side of the building, maybe by the time the Joker ran down and got it the people would be able to evacuate..

_...No he would run far to fast and get it..._

And then what if when she threw it, it went off, or someone picked it up and pressed it thinking it was a toy; or even merely stepped on it.

She could hear her voice saying the Joker was mad people were trying to understand him, and knew she only had about a minute till he would ask her to press it.

_What if...._

What if she threw herself off the building? Placing the detonator in her pocket, would ensure it wouldn't get set off by accident, and people would crowd around her....dead body, so the Joker wouldn't be able to grab the detonator, and a random person wouldn't be able to pick it up.

If she killed herself, she would save thousands, and also save millions from mourning. She stepped closer to the edge of the building, debating. One life to save thousands. To end her life to save others.

_After all I'm not...I'm not that important compared to all those people..._ She told herself._ I'm just one woman, and I'm going to die anyways, if not today ....soon._

The Joker would eventually kill her. And if she did this, she would save herself future pain and being torchered to death. Falling off a thirty story building would be quick and painless. And besides the Joker was too distracted by the video to stop her.

She turned her back to the Joker, now fully looking over the edge.

She shut her eyes and took a deep breath.

_This is it. The moment of truth. I knew it would come. Its' better this way. Just remember that..._ She told herself as motivation.

She would rather die with her head held high and her eyes shut.

_Tom if only I could have seen you once more. Brother...If only I could have hugged you one last time..._

She lifted a foot in the air and stepped forward over the edge...

She felt a rush of thrill go through her as she did so, but it faded realizing something was gripping her forearm tightly; a pain as something was digging into her flesh. She looked back to see the Joker. She did not even move slightly downwards. She was merely at an angle off the edge.

He threw her backwards in anger, letting out a fustrated growl as he did so.

She hit the ground her legs scraping against the cement.

She tried to conceal the detonator, but he jumped on top of her and tried to grab it. "Give it to me!"

"NO! I won't let you do it!"

She bit his arm.

"Ah! What the-!"

"No! You can't!"

"I can do whatever I want!"

"Ugh! Ah! Ouuucha!"

"Give it to me!"

"NO!"

She kicked her legs up to hit him in the groin, but missed. He pinned her down, by leaning his entire weight onto her. He dug his fingers into her wrist and used his other hand to pry it out of her grip. His fingernails clawed at her skin and tore away, causing blood to pour out of her fingertips.

She tried to hold on, until the pain was too much.

She relaxed her fingers and the Joker instantly grabbed the detinator.

The Joker clicked down the button and a huge explosion went off in the distance.

Nichole sat up to see the building a block away go up in smoke. People were screaming at the top of their lungs.

Police sirens went off, the air became black, and the Joker laughed manically at the chaos he created.

* * *

**Kait: **I GOT MY COPY OF THE DARK KNIGHT! _(cheers dances and screams)_I preordered it and I got it yesterday. Of course I watched it and yes the Joker is still amazing and sexy and the movie is still awesome! Oh my god yes! I was going to type yesterday but I was busy watching the Dark Knight! HAHA!

**Meg: **_(is mad jealousness she isn't getting The Dark Knight till Tuesday like everyone else who didn't preordered it)_

**Joker: **So you think im sexy eh Kait? _(slicks hair back)_

**Kait:**duh. My user name is Joker-Is-Sexy. AND I think I drooled during the nurse outfit scene. Since I have it at my house now I could rewind that part over and over again ^.^


	25. Kill Two Birds With One Stone

**Kait: **So everyone, a fan of the story has decided to drop by and pay us a little visit here in the "Kait, Meg, Joker and sometimes Nichole" chats we have in the beginning of the stories, because well she has wanted to for quiet some time now. Everyone say hi to Varrica! _(waves)_

**Varrica:** _(Waves erratically suppressing a giggle)_ HAI!

**Joker: **_(blinks and eyes Varrica head to toe, then slowly walks towards her licking his lips) _Well hello beautiful! Finally something more...appealing here _(circles her like a vulture)_

**Varrica:** Err..._ (takes a chance when the Joker is in front of her to trip him)_ Oops!

**Meg:** HEY HEY HEY! She's been here for two seconds and already your goo goo eyeing her? She's our guest Joker! Treat her nicely!

**Joker:** Oh I intend to give her the royal treatment _(beckons Varrica over)_ Just....over in this secluded dark corner of the room.

**Varrica:** Maybe some other time? I intend to...behave here. OH LOOK _(runs)

* * *

_

**Chapter 25**

Nichole got over the burning pain on her scrapped legs long enough to see the bigger picture. The Joker kept her from falling. He kept her from killing herself.

He wanted to do it himself.

He was angry she tried to foil his plans and would beat her to death severely for her attempt. The angry look that had been in his eyes when he threw her backwards to the roof's ground, had only confirmed the feeling she got when he stopped her. No light was in them, just pure dark chaos.

She watched him laugh manically at the now burning up building and her mind just snapped. She didn't know what came over her, but it was the feeling of not taking this shit anymore.

She was done.

She was ready to die now.

Her body was so weak from the weeks of pain it endured and her mind was worn out from all the mind games and tricks the Joker had played on her.

There is only so much a person can take before they can not take anymore.

Her bridge was made and now she was going to cross it to her death.

Nichole eyed the edge of the building again, and came up with a plan. Originally she was going to kill herself to save the people in that building, but they were dead because she just didn't try hard enough to stop the Joker in her mind.

_I should have fought back or thought of the idea earlier_! She scowled at herself through her tears.

But now Nichole had a better idea.

She was just going to end her life to save others.

Now she was going to kill herself, to save herself.

She was going to die a painful death from the Joker, probably for her attempted suicide, so it was time to end her life quick and painless by a single jump off the building.

But this time she had to kick.

Scream.

Thrash.

The Joker would _not_ stop her.

Her mind was set. No more abuse would come from him onto her body and mind.

She felt as if she did not belong to society a while back, so now she was just going to do the world a favor.

She was tainted and would never be rubbed clean.

Today was the end.

She stood up straight biting her lip to hide the pain her legs felt. Her body swayed back and forth as she felt a dizzy spree fall over her body. With one hand holding on to her leg to ease the pain, she took off running like a bat out of hell toward the building edge.

Any building edge.

Nichole didn't give a damn.

As long as it was a short drop and a sudden stop she was fine with it.

As she reached the edge she felt the Joker grab a fist full of her clothing from behind and yank her backwards. The wind was knocked out of her as she fell backwards.

The Joker sighed. "What am I going to do with you Nikki? Are you now just going to try and kill yourself to solve all your problems? You do know that is not the answer right?" He teased and laughed at her.

Nichole immediately started to thrash and wave her arms out extending them toward to edge of the building. "NO! NO! JUST LET ME DIE!" She screamed, tears freely falling from her eyes.

She wanted death.

A fast one.

She welcomed it.

"Just let me jump! Let me die! Nooo!" She scooted her body forward and caused her upper body to be hanging off the ledge.

The Joker quickly squated above her and placed his hands on either side of her ribs. He pulled her backwards while shoving her downwards into the cement roof so she would be badly cut and scraped.

"I can't let ya do that Nichole! Then what fun will I have?" He grunted as he was able to pull her back more so they were towards the center of the roof. He leaned down and scooped her shaking body up. "You need threapy!"

The Joker tightened his grip on her as she turned over onto her stomach in his arms, and he awkwardly held her like a fisherman held fish. He was having a difficult time keeping her still.

"**NOOO! **I wanna die! Let me die! I can't take it anymore! I hate you! Let me die!" She pleaded frantically to him as she tried to shove her way forward in some odd thought that she could just flop out of his arms and bounce her way off the ledge.

"Well why didn't you just tell me days ago you wanted to die? I could have helpped you with that! It's a hobby of mine! Come on with me, I'll help solve your problem!" He said with dark humor.

He dropped her to the floor letting her smack her head against it. He then sent a paralyzing punch to her head causing her to black out for a few moments. In her moment of weakness and confusion, he bent down and picked her back up. He walked down the stairs of the building and to the van.

He placed her roughly into the seat and buckled her seatbelt. By this point she was starting to get her vision back and the blurry images before her eyes started to take shape. He reached in his pocket taking out a lighter and flicked it on putting the burning flame to the seat belt's buckle, making it melt so Nichole couldn't unbuckle herself and escape.

Even in her state of pain and confusion she started to grab at the belt that was around her chest and tried to pull it away from her body so she could squeeze her way out of it. Her aching head cause her arms to flail around and miss the belt around her a few times. Sometimes it would slip from her grasp even.

The Joker was in the drivers seat in a flash, putting one hand on the steering wheel and the other pressing into Nichole's stomach to hold her down.

"Trying to be noble Nichole? Hmmm? Trying to kill yourself now to save others? _Hmmm?_" He mumbled to himself angered.

She leaned down and bit his hand hard, using her hands to try and crank down the window to yell for help. The Joker smacked her across the face, then took her face in his one hand holding it tightly and positioning it so she was forced to look forward. He was pressing down so hard she felt the bruise forming underneath his sharp fingernails.

"Well I see how it uh, is. You don't like the way I treat you. Is that it? You think you have it so bad here that you are willing to kill yourself to escape it? Well if death is what you wanted, you should have asked me." He nodded his head up and down a very serious face on. "As an agent of chaos it is my job to end lives of those who want it, and seeing how you tried to commit suicide even after you did a failed attempt to save those people....."

Nichole shut her eyes tightly gritting her teeth at the pain as he dug his fingernails into her face cutting them and causing an intense stinging feeling to spread over her.

The Joker stared blankly at the blood that trickled off her face and on to his fingers, licking his lips. "For the next three days I guess-" He sighed, "You will have to be on suicide watch. Can't have you off trying to end your own life, when I want to. But Nichole couldn't you have picked a better time to finally want to die? I was just getting used to the idea of having a sidekick. Candy really brought a...smile to my face, as it should to you. In fact....I don't believe I've seen you smile in such a long time. I _think-kah_...I uh....am going to change that." He grinned wickedly as he turned the corner.

* * *

Gordon dumped his coat onto his office chair, slumping into it. He just got the word of The Joker's latest crime. Blowing up a newspaper printing place with about a thousand workers inside. The Joker was too much for him to handle. Even Batman can't stop him. Gordon was losing hope of ever catching him.

He placed the file he was carrying on his desk and opened it up. Inside were pictures pedestrians had taken of the Joker when they spotted him various times. The photos were utter crap though. Some were blurry as if the person taking it rushed to take it before the Joker got away and moved the camera when the picture took. Another one had the Joker so far away that it was hard to tell if it was even really the Joker.

Gordon sighed closing the file and placing his head on his desk, worn out from the Joker. He started to wonder if this would become a daily thing. The Joker causing mass destruction and getting away with it. Maybe they could evacuate Gotham City and leave the Joker there to himself. But knowing him, he'd disguise himself to escape. There really was no answer to this problem. It was as if the Joker was not human.

Detective Gonzales knocked on the Commissioners door twice, standing awkwardly by the door waiting for permission to enter. Ever since Gordon became Commissioner everyone treated him with more respect and honer. It was something that obviously Gordon was not used to.

"Gordon?"

"Come in Detective." Gordon ushered with a wave of his hand, not bothering to look up. He could recognize people's voices quite well .

"Well we just got a copy of the tape the Joker sent in to the news to announce him blowing up the building."

Gordon raised his head up very confused and alert. "There was a tape? I thought this was a random act. I just heard The Joker was behind it from you guys."

"Yeah it was on the news. The Joker had his little helper "Candy" say stuff and then well....he blew it up." Gonzales extended a hand holding a CD for the computer.

Gordon immediately took it and popped the disk into the driver and leaning forward in his chair staring attentively at the screen waiting for the disk to load. Gordon tapped his foot on the ground impatiently.

And then finally the tape played. A woman maybe in her early twenties with a ton of red eye makeup on, rosy red lip stick, and a costume like outfit on was holding a piece of paper and reading off of it.

Gordon wasn't paying attention to what Candy was saying at all. He was focused on what she looked like. Her blonde hair, and straight face. Gordon's surprised facial expression turned to utter shock. He fell back into his chair more, his hands falling to his lap. He was speechless as he realized something.

He sat there staring at the screen for another two minutes well after it stopped playing. He was simply disbelieving....that....that-

"Commissioner?" Gonzales waved a hand in front of Gordon's face.

"Detective....This Candy....what information do you have on her?" He said shaking his head in disbelief.

"As of right now? Nothing. Never seen or heard of her before."

Gordon walked briskly to his office door and shut it tightly pulling down the shade to it as well. He took a finger and peered through the shade for a moment before turning back around to face the very confused detective. He walked over to him and cupped a hand over his ear whispering softly.

"Candy....That's Nichole. The teacher kidnapped about two weeks ago. The Joker must have forced her to create this "Candy". If you watch the tape again you can clearly see the pain and suffering in her eyes as well as bruises and cuts. She does a good job to hide it and I wouldn't be shocked if a gun is being pointed at her off screen. Point of the matter is that we need to keep this quiet. Some people if we told them Nichole was Candy would assume she was a criminal. She is a good person thrown into a world of chaos that is Gotham City. If they know she is Candy she will never have a chance at a normal life and get a very unfair trial."

He rubbed his chin in thought, letting out a sigh.

"I want you to rewatch this tape as many times as it takes. We need to get a clue as to where the Joker is keeping her and maybe in one of the shots in the video is a car license plate or a computer or laptop we can find the ID to and pinpoint its location. Just to it and keep this secret. No one needs to know who Candy really is. This is just me and you got it?"

Gordon pulled the shades back up, his mind still lost in complete thought. He had to save Nichole. It was his fault she ended back with the Joker. He had naively let her be by herself and she ran away. He should have known it would happen. And besides clearing his guilty conscious he really did like Nichole. She was a sweet women who had a very bad encounter with a killer.

Gonzales went to the computer and replayed the tape. Over and Over and Over again. He was determined to find something that could help. It really didn't have to do with his concern for the well being of Nichole, it was more for the fact if he did this maybe he'd get a promotion or two. The greedy money whore.

"Gordon! I got something! Look here!"

The Commissioner was standing behind Gonzales within seconds.

"See this? A laptop was caught in the frame for a few seconds. If you take this to the lap im sure they could enhance the photo to be able to make out the identification tag on it and pinpoint the location of the laptop or call the company and ask who purchased it and ask for the address."

"Excellent! Do that for me please."

Gonzales sent the picture to the lab and rushed down to explain to them what to do.

Gordon sat back in his chair looking at the paused freeze framed image of Nichole dressed up as Candy. Throughout the video she kept a steady and seductive voice and a pretty straight face. But in her eyes if someone were to focus real hard on them and looked past the red eye makeup, someone could see the pain in her eyes. The tiny tears in them. The screaming voice inside her wanting to be free.

* * *

Tom sat silently in his car, his hands tightly gripping his steering wheel. He sat there outside the house waiting. Waiting, for the opportune moment. The one chance he'd have to-

A van pulled up to the house. Tom got a clear view of the Joker in the drivers seat and there was....Nichole dressed like...what?

Tom hung his mouth open as the Joker got out of his seat and went over to the passenger side. He but the seat belt off of Nichole and grabbed her. She struggled in his arms.

"HELP!" she screamed. "OH GOD SOMEONE HELP ME!"

The Joker placed a hand over her mouth, which it then looked like she bit him, because he kicked her. He struggled a bit and then sucessfully got Nichole and himself in the house slamming the door behind him. Faint screaming was heard, but nothing out of the ordinary for Gotham City. If someone were to focus hard on the voice it was clearly saying "Help me! He's going to kill me!"

Tom took it all in.

Candy, the Joker's side kick, the one that he was hearing about through the news was Nichole.

That monster forced her to work for him. Oh if he wasn't mad enough as it was. The Joker stabbed him, taunted him by saying things he's done to Nichole, then sends him a tape of him raping her, and now he finds out poor Nichole has been forced to do this as well.

Tom wanted to kill the Joker. He wanted him dead, but he also wanted to save Nichole. His mind wanted to kill. His heart wanted to save. He didn't know what to do once he got in the house.

He could grab Nichole and get the hell out of there fast, leaving behind a pissed off Joker. Or he could kill the Joker first and then save Nichole. But there was a pretty good chance Tom would die doing that. But it didn't matter he'd die to save her. But in the back of his mind he wondered if he was willing to die for her, or for his revenge.

He hoped he could do both. Save Nichole, kill the Joker and live happily ever after. Kill two birds with one stone.

He opened his car door and headed around the back of the building eyeing an open window and climbing through into the Joker's lair.


	26. Bring On Death

**Kait:** Once again I am so sorry. I have had absolutely NO time to write, er....type. Swim practice everyday, it causes me to be tired so I don't feel like doing anything and then I have homework, but I don't do it since im so tired and then my grades are slipping because of it and well its just a big mess. But I do intend to keep this story going even if it kills me. Sometimes if I know I will not be able to get on for a week I might just ask Meg to write the chapter for me but supply her the details for what must go in and then she sends it to me so I edit it.

**Meg:** That's why I am here Kait _(smiles)_

**Joker:** And why am I here?

**Kait:** As a comic relieved character for this chat room? Got it?

**Joker: **But....i am not even funny despite my clownish appearance. Its a common misconception.

**Meg:** Omg just like in _Finding Nemo_! CLOWN FISH AREN'T FUNNY! _(laughs and points at the Joker teasingly)_

* * *

He threw her down the basement stairs. Literally. He reached the top of them and just let go of his grip on her. She went tumbling down screaming a obscurity, before descending down around twelve flights of stairs. Rolling down them is more appropriate. As she fell down each step it was as if someone was punching the side she landed on.

She cried out until she let out a big "Oomphf" as she hit the bottom of the basement hitting a nearby wall. The most sickening thing was she heard a snap as she landed and searing pain in her right ankle. Nichole screamed bloody murder. It felt as if her ankle had been ripped off from her body, but she knew this not to be true seeing as it was still on her foot. It didn't appear broken, but sprained. That fact did nothing for the pain she felt.

The Joker skipped down the stairwell, squatting down near Nichole giving a small "Tut Tut Tut" before scooping her up again in his arm carelessly, making sure to crush her broken ankle into him on purpose just to cause her more pain.

He brought her over to a chain on the wall across the way. He threw her on the ground searching around for some rope.

Nichole tried to crawl away in this moment, but was unable to hide the crys escaping her breath as she moved forward a few inches.

The Joker was back on her in an instant, sitting on her backside grabbing a clump of her hair and yanking her head back making her groan. He leaned down pressing his mouth by her ear and hissed, "Your wasting your energy."

He eased the pressure on her hair slightly, getting off her back and kneeling beside her. The Joker then flipped her over onto her stomach, Nichole squealing from her ankle, and began to tie her hands together tightly. The rope was prickly against her skin and as he tied it tighter and tighter she felt rope burn already starting as her hands twitched in his grip.

He grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up tying the extra rope to the chain that hung from the ceiling. It was high enough so her feet did not touch the ground at all, but hung limp below her straight body. The pressure against her wrists was unbearable and she felt the rope slowly taking away layers of her skin. Nichole squeezed her eyes shut trying to focus on something to ease the pain away, but to no anvil.

The Joker pushed her body backwards so she swayed back and forth hanging there. The rope had definitely cut her by this point, and blood traveled slowly down her arms as she clenched her teeth together. "Stop!" She pleaded, knowing her begging would do nothing, but she felt a little better when she heard her own voice, it calmed her down and reassured her that at least she was still alive, because right now everything felt so surreal.

"What do you think? Fast or _sssss-looooo-wah_?" Nichole heard the Joker say. Her eyes were still shut so she was not able to make out his facial expression.

She opened her eyes. "Fast please just kill me!"

The Joker kicked her sprained ankle hard. Nichole screamed in agony, biting her lip so hard it began to bleed, but she couldn't tell even. The burning sensation in her ankle over took any feeling she had anywhere else.

"I wasn't talking to _uh_...**you**" The Joker growled. "I was talking to him." Nichole's teary eyed vision cleared enough to see a pocket knife in his right hand.

The Joker tilted his blade back and forth examining it. "So fast or slow?" He brought the knife up to his ear to "listen" to its response. After a few moments he put on a thoughtful expression. "Oh I do agree. You are right....slow is way better." He nodded then gasped, "Whats that?" He leaned in closer to the knife. "Oh I see...."

He lowered the knife to glare at Nichole. "He says that he is not fit for the job and I should grab my.....special knives upstairs. He says my skinning knife should be used. How does that sound Nikki?" He got close to her, his warm breath on her face sent chills down her spine. She bite her lip again, now realizing it was bleeding and spitting out the blood in her mouth, hating the taste of it, without thinking. It landed on the Joker's suit.

She caught her breath and froze. The two looked down at the blob of blood splattered on the already dirty purple suit. The man in the suit's face twisted into a glare as he met his eyes with Nichole. He licked his lips irritated, "That will _cost-tah _you."

Nichole shut her eyes bracing herself thinking he was going to hit her, but instead she felt his warm breath leave her face and heard his footsteps walk away from her direction. She looked and saw him heading toward the stairs. He reached headed up them stopping halfway to shout back to her. "Nichole....Just stay down here and...hang around." He broke into a cruel laughing fit, enjoying his pun as he climbed the remaining stairs and slammed the basement door.

Nichole could barely make out his footsteps heading up another flight of steps to his room. The panic set in at this moment. She tried to wiggle out of the ropes, but they were just too tight.

She relaxed her muscle and hung there in defeat. She was going to die and unfortunately for her...slowly. She whispered silently to herself. "Mom....please....I'm sorry...I won't be there for my brother when he returns from war...Mom, greet me please when I die....will you do that?" Tears streamed down her face as she thought about her brother, out in the war returning home to be greeted by no one and then getting a letter saying his only family, his sister, was dead by the hands of the Joker. What would he do? Where would he go? People when they returned from war always were a little out of it, but then to have tragedy once home would be devastating.

"Nichole!" A voice said in a harsh whisper.

Nichole opened her eyes as she tensed up, the voice pulling her from her depressing thoughts. It took her a moment to see where the voice was coming from. On the stairwell there stood Tom. His eyes showed he was in shock, in fear and concerned for the well being of her.

"T-...T-....To-..." Nichole couldn't even finish her speech. The nerves had erased from her stomach and the tears had ceased. Her angel was sent to her. Tom.

Tom silently rushed to her. "Nichole...my god are you okay?"

Her speech had left her, she stared at him, her mouth hung open in a daze.

Tom began to undo the ropes on her quickly, but having a bit of trouble.

"Ouch!" Nichole cried.

Tom let go of the rope hesitating. "A-Are you okay? Did I hurt you?"

"No...Its fine. Just rope burn. I can take it just...get me out here, the Joker will be bound to return at any moment." She whispered, her voice showed no signs of fear, just relieved. Tom was here and she had a chance at freedom.

"Don't worry. If he comes, I will protect you." Tom reached in his pocket and pulled out a knife, Nichole flinched seeing it as normally when a knife was pulled out in front of her it meant suffering for her, but Tom merely began to cut away the ropes that held her up.

"How did you find me?" She asked, hoping....no no praying that he wasn't just in her imagination and that he really here with her.

"I hired someone to find this place for me....but....the Joker killed them, but thankfully he found this place before he was killed. I came here waiting for you and....and that monster to be here and I snuck in. I heard everything he said before as I waited at the top of the basement stairs. I grew worried he was going to kill you right then and there and was debating whether I should charge down here and try to save you, but then....then I heard he was going to go upstairs searching for better knives to use, and I knew I had a chance. One chance to save you. I have made up my mind that saving you is more important than revenge. While I am here I am going to do nothing but get you out, The Joker will not be killed by me today-"

Just then the rope snapped as he finished cutting through and he caught Nichole keeping her from hitting the ground. He placed her on her feet, well....her foot. She could only stand on one, and kept his hands on her shoulder. Nichole couldn't help but cry from happiness. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his back hugging him with whatever strength she had in her. She buried her face in his chest, to lessen her loud sob so it would not disturb or alert the Joker.

Tom hugged her back, for a moment, then calmly stated, "Nichole we can do this later....we can't stay in here long, I don't know how long looking at knives is going to preoccupy the Joker. Can you walk well?" He obviously had not noticed her sprained ankle.

"No...he threw me down those stairs and my ankle I think its twisted." She spoke into his chest, her words muffled by it but Tom was able to make out the jest of it.

"Don't worry." Tom stroked Nichole's hair gentle. "I'll carry you sweety."

With that he brought one hand down and scooped her up in his arms, carefully making sure not to touch or go anywhere near her ankle. He had one hand under her knees and the other by her shoulder and back. He slowly made his way up the stairs, not because Nichole was heavy, but because he didn't want to make a lot of noise on the stairs.

At the top he looked around for the path he should take, debating whether the front door would be hard to open and make a lot of noise, when he heard footsteps. The Joker was coming down from the upstairs. Panicking, Tom rushed into the living room pressing his back against the wall.

The Joker hummed oddly as he made his way into the basement. Tom took this moment to rush out the front door, not bothering to shut it behind him. Nichole squealed hearing a loud growl come from inside the house. Tom didn't know where to go, his car was parked too far away to run to in time, so he ran to the side of the building into a dark alley way. He set Nichole down and let her rest against the brick wall, a nearby sewage vent made the ally smell of rotting eggs and milk. She pressed her sleeve to her mouth to block it.

Tom stood in front of her catching his breath from the adrenalin rush. It was at this moment Nichole realized the ally they were in was a one way ally and the only way out was the way they entered. Seeing this, the walls came closing in, and she knew deep down this wasn't the best place to be, but she didn't care, because as long as Tom was with her a sense of light was in her soul.

Nichole watched him, feeling numb inside. "Tom...." She started. She placed a hand on his face, he tilted into her hand smiling a half smile at her. "Thank you....If it hadn't been for you, I'd be dead."

"Don't thank me yet. We aren't out the woods yet. I hear the Joker calling your name and cursing inside....He might find us. We just need to stay here and wait until he leaves or something." He tired to keep his voice calm to give Nichole a bit of security, but his eyes showed the fear and doubt.

"But still, even if I die today....I'm glad I got to see your face once more." Her face stained scarlet as she leaned in closer to him. They paused a bit of distance between there faces, until Tom broke the gap and kissed her gently on the lips, not caring about the taste of copper from the blood on her face. She placed a hand on his chest pulling him closer, and he ran his finger through her greasy blonde hair.

It was as if her butterflies in her stomach went soaring off into the sky, and she went flying away with them. Her lips tingled in delight against his, and didn't feel numb like they normally did when the Joker kissed her. She relaxed against him enjoying the kiss to the fullest extent.

After all this pain and suffering she would have thought she would never look at a male the same way and go against all forms of physicalness, but this was different. This was Tom. Her love, her angel, and her savior.

"I didn't know you were a cheater Nichole. I really didn't think you were that type of gal."

Nichole gasped breaking the kiss and the two of them looked to the right. _"No!"_ Nichole whispered. Her world came crashing down to reality as she saw him. The Joker, who looked madder than ever standing at the end of the ally a knife tightly gripped in his hand. He stood there menacingly blocking the only way out of the ally, coming closer to the two stalkingly.

"I thought when I, uh told you....YOU BELONGED TO ME....That you wouldn't go running around with other men...and at that a man who doesn't know how to take a joke."

Tom stood in front of Nichole, trying to block her from the Joker's sight, but Nichole peered at him through Tom's arm. She felt her legs shake a tad.

"I don't see how stabbing me in the stomach is a joke." Tom stood his ground.

"Well come over here and I will explain it for you." The Joker challenged, twirling the knife in his hand.

Tom took a step forward, only to b pulled back by a hand on his shoulder. "Tom don't." Nichole cried.

"Don't worry it'll be fine-"

The Joker dashed forward lunging his knife forward as well, trying to stab Tom in the chest. Tom quickly side stepped taking Nichole with him, but the sudden movement caught Nichole off guard, she fell to the ground.

Tom pulled out his pocket knife aiming the blade at the Joker. Nichole tried to sit up, when the Joker slammed his foot onto her sprained ankle. "Whores aren't suppose to get involved in wars." The Joker taunted her, putting the most pressure he could on her foot, before taking a swipe at Tom again. Nichol cried out in pain holding her badly bruised ankle tightly. "Oh god make it stop!" She spewed out not thinking. When in pain people tend to say things or repeat things to vent out their agony or anger, in this case Nichole was the "Oh my god!" type of women who said that phrase repeatedly in pain.

Once the pain dulled to the point she could mange it, Nichole looked up to see the two men. Both had some stab wounds on the arms and legs, but Tom looked to be in worser shape. Nichole stood up leaning on the wall, making her way towards the battle.

Finally making it, she limped off the wall and snuck behind the Joker, Tom noticed but did his best not to look at Nichole to give it away. She nodded at Tom, and he lifted his blade up, keeping it there and Nichole tried to push the Joker forward with all her might. Well with all the luck Nichole had, the little "push the Joker into Tom's knife surprise attack!" failed miserably, because the Joker was always one step ahead of the game. He had seen in the corner of his eye Nichole creep up behind him, and when she leaned in to push him, he spun around and grabbed her arms.

He then slammed her into the wall, and snaked a hand behind her neck and began to repeatedly smash her head against the brick wall. Each blow made everything blurry, and unreal. By the fifth hit to the wall, everything went numb and she couldn't feel pain, just the feeling of warm liquid flowing out of her head.

Tom screamed as he took the Joker by the back and pulled him off of Nichole. She fell to the ground in a daze, unfortunate for her, she landed so she could see the Joker and Tom fight more.

The two blew a few more punches, both of them had lost there knives in the confusion, until Nichole heard an oh too familiar clicking noise come from the Joker. Her insides churned as he pulled out another knife and thrust it into Tom's chest.

Tom took a few steps backwards, mouth hung open as the shock set in looking down at the bloody stain forming around the knife by his chest. He looked down at Nichole, giving a small smile to her with the best of his ability before falling to the ground. Once there he stopped moving completely.

Nichole widened her eyes, twitching erratically. She screamed out. "YOU MONSTER! YOU FUCKING MONSTER!" With all her strength she brought her hands forward and dragged herself forward, not even able to get up and crawl. She didn't care if she scrapped herself in doing this. She had to get help, Tom was badly hurt.

**"SOMEONE! HELP ME! SOMEONE PLEASE!"** She only made it a few inches within those few seconds. She tried to cry out, but it came out more whining and her crys made it hard for a person, if anyone, to completly make out. Her voice got softer and softer as her strenght left her. "OH GOD PLEASE HELP! HE'S GOING TO KILL ME! SOEONE HELP! ANYONE HELP M-! AHH! NO!" The Joker grabbed a fistful of her hair and began to drag her to the back of the alleyway, doing it slowly so she could "savior" each burn and cut along the dirty and bumpy ally cement floor.

She thrashed her arms and legs all she could screaming, pleading for help that wasn't going to come. He threw her against the back wall, and then sat down, he took her face and placed it on his lap.

Nichole looked up, regretting it, and saw his face for the first time since he had caught her and Tom kissing. He was covered with blood, not his own, and his eyes were wild and crazy. Dark and manic. His lunatic smile made her body shake. He was mad, not infuriated. His look could start a fire that could burn all of Gotham City down to the ground.

"Oh what's wrong Nichole? Do you keep forgetting you belong to me?" His voice was like nothing she ever heard. It was deep and husky. On the edge and unpredictable. Sometimes it would go up a few ochtives and down to a point she didn't think a voice could reach. He was a dog off the leash and he was going to bite Nichole hard.

He pushed her face down into his leg, so she was forced to look up at him. "Maybe I should just give you something to remind you, that you. Are. Mine." He smirked and took out his knife soaked in Tom's blood.

With that he stabbed downward into Nichole's face. Not by her mouth to her surprise but into her right cheek. But really did it matter where it was? What mattered was it was the most pain she ever had been through.

The Joker laughed spaztically as he dove the knife in deeper in her cheek, curving downward in it. She could feel the tip of the knife actually in her mouth, he broke through the skin all the way. The blood poured into her mouth and down her throat due to the stupid thing called gravity, and choked her. The gaging caused her screams to be blocked. She tried to cough but her body just shook. The sound of her muscle tearing from the blade echoed in her ears as he went back up and did a straight line in her cheek as well. The taste of copper filled her mouth, and tear blurred her vision. She thought in the back of her mind, it was good thing she couldn't see. She didn't want the Joker's face to be the last thing she saw before she died....because she knew it she was going to die and that this pain would only last a few more moments.

The Joker's blade left her cheek and she heard him throw it off to the side, hearing the metal clank against cement. "Bea-uuuu-tiful." He ran a finger on whatever he cut into her face, making sure to put a ton of pressure on it. Blood squirted out and run down her face onto his clothing, but it didn't matter. His masterpiece was allowed to flow freely out of her.

Nichole let out a scream and a faint, "I hate you." to the Joker, but due to her condition it came out more as a "Iz had toob." when she said it.

She felt the Joker push her off of his lap and her body fell to the ground slowly, and she gave up on trying to escape. She shut her eyes, feeling her hands tighten into fists as her cheek stung. It felt like someone had skinned all her body and then set her on fire. She tried to open her eyes once more but they wouldn't. It was time for death. A darkness was all she could see, and the faint sounds of sirens in the distance, along with the Joker's laughter ringing right in her ear.

_Bring death upon me....I'm ready for it. _Nichole thought as a bright white light was in the distant darkness._ Bring me to Freedom.

* * *

_

**Kait:** _(taps chin re-reading chapter) _Yeah sorry I am not good at writing actiony fighting scenes. But oh snap, did I do it? Was I one of the few who actually let their Original character get something carved into their face? (spot light comes down on Kait, audience applauses._ She bows down as roses are thrown at her feet) _Thank you thank you, you are all too kind!

**Nichole:** _(rushes in and beat up Kait)_ BITCH!

**Joker:** Hey! Only** I** am allowed to call her that _(chases Nichole with knife as she runs screaming away)_

**Meg:** Oh dear lord. Oh hey I have discovered a song also that goes well with this story. _Nine In The __Afternoon_ by _Panic At The Disco_. The reason? Because the song is random and doesn't make sense at all, just like the Joker. So it fits perfectly.

**Kait:** _(wakes up from getting beat up and is on crutches)_ Ouch. What a freaking whore im glad I made the Joker seriously hurt her face. But I am positive you all could guess what he carved on her face. Its pretty obvious _(winks)_. Okay and something important. I am going to be making a video taking your questions about this story and questions you have for why I did what I did for this story, or any other random question you have for me. Heres what you do ask the question in your review, if you want me to mention your user name, or message me the question if you want me to keep the question anonymous. I will be posting a link for the video once I do it, but the reason I am is because I keep getting flooded with questions and thought hey what the heck, I should save myself typing _(giggles at her lazy ass self) _So ask away, and oh...don't forget to review my chapter, cause I worked hard! _(nods)_


	27. Back To Reality

**Kait:**LOL you people thought this story was done. Hell no!

**Meg:**Hahaha we tricked you _(evil laugh)_

**Joker:** .....normally I like tricks but that was low

**Kait:** Well we had nothing better to do. This chapter is short, but I did it quickly just to make sure you guys realize this story ain't done!

* * *

Stepping into the light, she always imaged to see big iron gates leading you off into heaven with angels singing and greeting you. A aura would be around everything and your face would glow. Then you'd enter the strange world filled with golden tall buildings of all sorts. Angels would be flying all about chatting merrily to there friends. And they all would be beautiful, they'd be at the age they thought they were the most beautiful and all stress and bad emotions would never be in their body ever again. the ground would be made of soft clouds that one could jump on and go soaring high into the sky. There would be a section where you could look down at your living loved ones and see how they were doing without you, and sometimes you could even go down and watch them, but they wouldn't see you. That is how Nichole pictured heaven.

But instead walking into the light she was in a white space.

Nothing but white around her. She turned three sixty degrees, but it was nothing but the eerie whiteness. Like a clean sheet of white paper had sucked her into it. It was creepy, being alone there. Utter silence is the worst sound in her opinion. It gives you time to think, which is always a bad thing because one ends up thinking about bad things or stressors. Nichole had a sudden urge to listen to her Ipod, since that could clear the horrible noise of nothing.

"Nichole...." a soft velvetly voice chimed.

She glanced in the distance. It was her mother, tears in her eyes but not of what Nichole would think to be tears of joy meeting back up with her in the afterlife, but tears of worry and concern. She had to be in heaven. Her mother was dead, yet here she plainly stood in this white area calling for her daughter. Her mother's dirty blonde hair was so perfect and her face was pale, but appeared to have a faint glow to it. The realization as to why Nichole was seeing her mother set in. She was dead and away from the Joker. Freedom at last. And if the Joker killed Tom she would end up seeing him soon as well. Not that she wanted him dead, but it would still be comforting to know he escaped the pain as well.

"Mom?" Nichole dashed to her mother, wanting to hug her but was hesitant and merely stood very close to her. She was in a lovely white dress and had beautiful white wings on her back, but instead of flying up above her daughter she stayed on the ground, a frown clearly on her pale face.

Her mother reached out and put a hand on Nichole's cheek. The warmth of her hand, made Nichole lean into the hand and sigh. She placed her own hand on her mothers. All her nerves and fears went away and she felt comfort at last. If this was what death meant, she was fine with it. "Mom I missed you so much." She cried.

Her mother used her free hand and brought it to her own mouth to muffle her crys. "Nichole......My beautiful daughter....what did he do to you?"

It had been too long since she had heard her mothers voice and oh how she missed it so. It took her a moment to answer, too perplexed with listening to her mothers kindhearted voice speak to her finally. "Mom..he...He killed me."

"Sweet heart...its not your time...." Her mother responded quickly and this statement made Nichole freeze in her spot. The hand on her mother's hand dropped down and she lost control of her thinking.

All she could think to say was, "What do you mean!?"

Her mother looked in the distance then back to her daughter. "You must return my sweet. Back to your life, back to Gotham. Your not ready for this yet. You are still young."

"But...But I don't want to go. I want to stay here with you. If I go back it will be nothing but pain and misery. I don't want my life!"

"Honey your free...." She tried to comfort her.

"Free? How can I be free mom?" Nichole's tears landed on her mothers hand and evaporated from the heat of her skin.

"......the police came. They saved you. When you wake up you'll be safe."

"Don't you understand mom? I will never be safe....He'll come for me. He'll find me and kill me."

"I am sorry, but my time with you here is spent. I can no longer be here. Nichole you must return to your world." Nichole's mother kissed Nichole's forehead, sending warmth through her daughter's body. Her mother's wings extended outwards and she lifted off the ground and upwards.

Nichole took her mother's hand tightly, refusing her to leave. "No don't leave me! Take me with you! I am not strong enough!"

She tried to pull her mother to the ground, but a force was pulling her mom up and she was too weak to go against it. "My daughter.....you are strong, your body may be weak, but your mind is strong. Don't let him take it from you. It is a powerful thing." She gave a warm smile as she got higher and higher until Nichole's hold on her mothers hand broke due to the distance. "I love Nichole...be strong when you look in the mirror, and know that I will always be with you."

Her mother disappeared and the silence began. Nichole fell to the floor in tears. "Mom I love you....don't go." She said in only a whisper, knowing very well her mother wouldn't be able to hear it.

It was then she looked down at herself. She was all covered in blood, in her normal clothing. The warmth had left her cheek from her mother's touch and pain began to set in. She heard a rythamic beeping noise and a murmered chatter between a few people, whose voices she could make out. She fell limp on the white ground, covering her ears with her hands to block the noises.

"Nichole? Wake up. Nichole are you there?" A familiar voice asked, and Nichole opened her eyes up back into the world of reality.

* * *

**Kait:** Dun dun dun. Who's voice could that be?

**Meg: **MINE! I CAME INTO THE STORY AND TALKED TO HER!

**Joker:** _(face palm)_

**Kait: **Well I was debating on whether to have flashbacks of Tom and Nichole's teenage years together to show how much they mean to one another or to have Nichole see her mother as an angel...and well as you can see _(points to what the reader just read) _Yes I know its short, but I had to put this in here so you guys wouldn't be all worried this story ended. _(grins) _

**Joker:** Although if you ended it last chapter I'd be having a happy ending.

**Meg:** _(slaps him)_ Wow your a jerk.


	28. Buying Time

**Kait:** This chapter was suppose to be out on Christmas....well....okay whatever this is my Christmas present to you all! _(nods) _Oh and Joker I got you a little something too _(grins handing him a wrapped present)_

**Joker: **_(claps hands together excited)_Ooooo I am just so excited what could it be _(shakes it and then opens it. His face falls as he pulls out a mistletoe. He glares at it)_ What the hell?

**Meg:**OH MY GOD MISTOE YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!

**Joker: **_(drops it)_ oh...oh god no! I dropped it don't-

**Kait and Meg: **_(charge the Joker head on)

* * *

_

Nichole opened her hurt eyes. Everything was blurry, but shades of white and green were coming slowly into frame. A color mixture of brown and white was near her. After a few more moments of hearing her name being called and a murmur of chatter.

"Nichole?"

At that moment everything came into focus. "What? Who's there?....Gordon?" She tried to sit up, but he placed a hand lightly on her shoulder to keep her laying down.

"Don't get up you might hurt yourself....your too weak to-"

"Where am I?" She asked taking in the view of the obvious hospital room, but wanted to know for sure she was there and was not seeing things. After all she had just seen her dead mother flying into the sky.

"Nichole your in the hospital...we were able to find you and take you here....we almost lost you along the way..." He sat in the small fold up chair placed next to her bed, resting his elbow on the side table and hiding his face in his hands. Nichole looked down at the IV in her skin and twitched. She didn't like needles and that sort of stuff hanging out of her skin. The fact she almost died really didn't bug here. It wouldn't be the first time.

"Where...Where is he?" She said frantically looking around the room, eyes darting in all directions.

"Tom?"

"No. You know damn well who I mean! Where. Is. He?" She shouted in anger.

"Nichole you don't have to worry." He smiled at her. "He's in Arkam."

"That means absolutely nothing! Last time he was in your hold he got out! TWICE!" She shook in her spot going against Gordon's force and sitting up, ignoring all the feelings of pain that came onto her body in various places.

He sighed. "Well Arkam is different. It will be a hell of a lot harder to break out of. Don't worry."

"Don't worry? Don't you tell me not to worry! That doesn't help! He'll break out evetually! It just buys me time before he comes for me!" A pain shot into her stomach that was too much to handle and she fell backwards onto the bed laying back down again easing the pain slightly. Gordon got up to see if she would need a nurse, but she held up a hand weakly to stop him. She took a deep breath in to calm herself down. "Sorry I am yelling at you, when I should be thanking you. You saved me life. I am sorry, and....Thank you."

"Nichole you don't have to apologize for yelling. If I were in your position I would not blame you for being upset and worried, but trust me he will be in Arkam for a while. And your welcome I was just doing my job." He winked at her.

"I want him to be locked up forever, but I know he will get out. I know it! He's not like the other fools at Arkam. He's smart and cunning. You have to have someone watching him every second of every day and even then he will escape!"

"Nichole I promise you if that is what it takes to keep him in people will be watching him all the time." He patted her head.

Nichole snapped and grabbed his forearm pulling Gordon down close to her. "You don't understand." She spoke slowly emphasizing every word. "He...... is the agent of ...chaos. He can not be ....stopped."

Gordon tensed pulling away from the obviously scared to shit women. "I think....it be best Nichole if you were to move out of Gotham...." She raised an eyebrow. "You see since you fear the Joker, it might be best to leave this place that haunted you behind, and besides the Joker won't leave Gotham so your more save there. Only I will know where you live so I can check up on you. How's that sound?"

She let out a sigh. "It sounds okay I guess....Can Tom live with me though I prefer to have someone with me and Tom can relate to many things i know i will go through...."

"Um..." Gordon rubbed the back of his head. "Nichole I don't know how to tell you this but...Tom isn't doing good at all."

"Where....WHERE IS HE?" She shouted. Gordon walked over to the other side of the room, a curtain blocked Nichole's view from the other bed. He pulled back the curtain to reveal Tom with all sorts of machinery and IV's attached to him.

"Tom! No!"

"He can't hear you...he's in a coma...again I am so sorry Nichole but they don't think he will be out of the coma for a year or two."

Nichole felt the tears building up and climbing over the rim of her eyelids down her face. It was at that moment she realized something was on her face, an extra weight. She felt her right cheek to find some linen cloth on it and her touch caused her to wince in pain. "What is this thing?" She attempted to peel it off.

Gordon caught her hand to stop her. "Uh I wouldn't-"

"What is on me?" She demanded.

"The Joker....He...Right before we came he cut...He cut your...-" He didn't have the heart to say it.

"He didn't cut a smile into my face did he?!"

"No not exactly....." He admitted, his eyes looking at the floor and not into Nichole's depressed tear stained ones.

"Gimmi a mirror." She said softly, but Gordon did not move. "I said give me a mirror damn it!" She said again this time with the pain and sadness in her voice.

He hesitantly walked over to a counter and pulled a hand held mirror from it, slowly extending his hand and giving it to Nichole. "The doctors said it was beyond repair and.....it will scar...I am so sorry." He went back to sitting down once she took it from him.

She lifted the cloth slowly, and almost dropped the mirror once she got a look at her right cheek. There....clearly carved deep into her skin was the letter "J" It didn't come in contact with her lip or eye, but it was in the middle of her cheek, taking it all up. It started below the curve under her eye and the curve ended and curved by a few inches away from her nose and lip. She gasped in horror at how red and how much puss and infection was in it. He had carved so deep it went straight into her mouth, but they stitched her up good enough. But each black thread that went into her skin and out in another spot was red and menacing looking as well. It was ugly and disgusting.

The thing the Joker had last said to her before he cut her face ran through her head. _Maybe I should just give you something to remind you, that you. Are. Mine._

**"I FUCKING HATE HIM!"** She screamed, causing one of the stitches to break open and blood stream down her face.

"Nurse!" Gordon called. "She's gonna need more pain killers!......AND A **SEDATIVE!" **He added seeing her thrash and flail her arms and legs about in anger screaming obscurities about the Joker.

"He ruined my life!" She screamed as the nurse rushed in a needle in her hand. "Nichole hold still I need to put this in you."

"**NO GET AWAY GET AWAY! GET AWA-"**The needle went in her and her arms stopped responding to her, along with her legs. She felt herself become sleepy and shut her eyes. Her subconsious took her.

* * *

She rolled over on her side, regretting it as the pain in her right cheek started to sting. _Ugh guess I can't sleep on this side for a while_. She thought as she looked at Tom's bed where he laid there unconscious and still. She frowned at his still form. Even though she was happy he was living, he was not with the world. He was in a almost dead like state of mind. She wanted things to be the way they were before the Joker entered her life. When she was happy and the biggest thrill in her life was finding out a new brand of coffee was on sale at Dunkin Donuts.

Suddenly she heard the door creak open, and a few nurses walk over to Tom's body. They were very odd looking nurses. It only took a moment for her to realize that those were not professional nurses. They were too familiar. They were the Joker and two of his goons. The Joker turned around and grinned at the frozen in her spot Nichole.

She tried to scream, but he rushed over to her and placed a dirty hand over her mouth to muffle it. "Ah ah ah you might ruin all the fun if you give us away." He poked her nose with his other hand. He then put a gun to her head. "If you scream...Well you get the uh...picture...."

He kept it pointed at her as he walked over to Tom slowly. It took her a moment to see what he was doing. He was unplugging all the wires and things attached to Tom.

"No stop-" He clicked the safety off the gun and glared at Nichole. "What was that?"

She tried to turn herself over to see if she could make a run for it into the hallway and get some help, but the pain was too much. That's it screw it she was going to scream.

"**HELP!** SOMEBODY HELP ME!" She screamed bloody murder.

The Joker came over and sat on top of her bouncing up and down in an almost humping like fashion. "Hush little baby don't say a word The Joker's gonna give you a matching scar." He sung, pulling out his knife. He began to laugh insanely getting closer and closer to her face.

"NOOOOOOOOOO! GET OFF OF ME! **GET AWAY!"** Nichole screamed.........................

"Nichole! NICHOLE! CALM DOWN!"

She opened her eyes. Three nurses were holding her down by the hands and legs, and Gordon was standing in the back of the room speaking to her.

"Nichole it was only a dream. Your safe. The Joker isn't-....No one is here." He thought it be in his best interest not to say the word "Joker" ever again to Nichole unless absolutely necessary.

"Are you sure. It felt so real!" She placed a hand over her heart which was beating so fast she thought it was going to come out of her chest.

"Nichole we can give you medicine that will help take away the stress and the pain. Would you like me to get you some when you check out of here?"

"Yes please...."

"Nichole I have bad news though....while you slept...Tom....passed away. He suffered from a seizure and well...I am sorry Nichole i don't know what to say."

She sunk into her bed frame more, her stomach feeling empty and the bile in it rising in her throat. He died....and she just had a dream of him dying. Her heart fell out of her body at this point and her tear ducts stopped flowing. Her mind and body and soul were lost. She didn't want to believe he was gone but looking over at the bare bed now she knew it to be true. "Well he's in a better place now....He is with my mom." She tried to convince more herself, then Gordon of what she said.

"Um... Well yeah that's true, and besdies if he were to make it out of the coma, he'd never really be the same ole Tom you remembered. Hold no to the memory of him that you had Nichole. That's all i can say. Oh and I have found a house for you to live in...and there is a school nearby in need of a teacher so I suggested you. I want you to put the past behind you and live a new life Nichole, and if that means getting you back into the swing of things well then.." He rubbed his chin.

"Gordon you do too much for me...thank you." She gave a weak smile. "But do you think I could be alone for a little bit....I just want to think to myself."

"Yes of course. Do you need more pain killers? The nurses tell me that they will be wearing off soon, and i wouldn't want you to be in all that pain. Your cheek is going to heal in about a month. So by the time you start teaching again it should just be a scar."

"That be nice. My face hurts and feel numb."

"Oh deary..." One of the nurses began. "I know of this specail makeup set that hides all scars. What you do is put a thick layer of kinda putty on your scar and then put makeup that matches your skin tone over it. Put that on every monring and no one will even know. I can give you the card to the play once you check out. I have offered it to many people and they all say it works fine and is really cheap for what it does."

Nichole smiled at the nurse, and said very honestly. "Thanks. I wouldn't want to have to explain to my new studnets why i have ascar on my face...that and if they saw me like that i can honestly say they will probably be scared of me." she laughed in her throat.

"I'll leave some pills on the table here for you to take, but be warned they will make you sleepy again and I don't want you to end up having another nightmare." He placed a pill bottle on the table giving a small smile before ushering the nurses and himself out of the room.

Nichole took her spare pillow and put it in front of her face and muffled her screams. Screams of pain, terror, anger, and mourning. Even though she was away from the Joker, the one who caused her all this pain, she had not escaped fully from him. He was in her mind. Every word or action he did would replay in her sleep and her day dreams. The scars would reflect back to her in the mirror and remind her of him. And the void in her heart. Tom dead.....It was all too much to handle.

She didn't want to deal with her mind right now. She wanted to be alone and in darkness where nothing could hurt her. Nothing could toy with her mind and everything that happened to her was just a distant memory. What she really wanted was to be with her mohter again. Just once more would be fine with her. Last time she was in too much awe to think of something to say to her and even say properly goodbye. But what if that too was all fake. She had just dreamed Tom dying from the Joker and it seemed real, but yet it wasn't. When she was with her mother, her touch felt real, but was it? She gave up on the debate, accepting that in fact it was possiable that was really her mother with her. At least that way felt more warming. She took the bottle and took out three pills plopping them into her mouth and swallowing. It didn't take long for them to kick in.

Peace and quiet was all she needed. For now at least.

* * *

**Kait:** Well Next chapter is going to be the last for Eye Candy. But fear not I will then work right away on the sequel, which will just be continued in this book, so you don't have to go off searching around the Dark Knight section for the sequel. It will be in here. Think of it as a Part 2 to Eye Candy. _(smiles)_

**Joker:** Part 2 always suck! Sequels are just a lame excuse to milk more money out of a lame idea.

**Meg:** _(tugs the Joker's ear)_ Um hello if sequels are so bad then why are we writing this. The Dark Knight was a sequel and the best movie ever.

**Kait:** YEAH! And Nightmare On Elm Street had plenty of sequels that didn't suck. _(cough)_ but the second one in the series sucked _(ends fake coughing fit) _Anyways sorry for the late updating. You guys are free to riot on my slowness. Oh and yeah I hated this chapter too. I kinda rushed it so I could just get it done. I am not even gonna reread it. I am just so busy. I am currently working on not just this story, but new Avatar The Last Airbender Story (Zuko/OC pairing) A few Tales Of Symphania Stories (Kratos/Anna or Kratos and Lloyd father son fluff cause its just so cute and yet such a sad story) and then a Kingdom Hospital Story. So as you can see I am busy typing away. And then of course I want a life so I don't type every day. But hey if you recognize any of those titles please read my story once its up! But don't forget about this story. Read and review folks! Love you all! Muah!


	29. A New Problem

**Kait:** Wow. The Last chapter of Eye Candy...._(plays a tune on the world's smallest violin)_ Depressing...

**Meg:** But Kait the sequel will make the readers happy right?

**Kait:** Right! But...I just got two reviews in two days stating my grammar and writing in this story well...suck. They stated it nicely and I do appreciate the two anonymous reviewers that did it, and I think I am going to go back and edit some chapters. I have like redone and added a lot to the first chapter, so I might as well do that to many others. I am aware my writing skills are well not that good. This is my first story ever, and I was never one to pay attention in Writing Classes. I just hope to improve my skills. For this story, I tried to stray away from going into TOO much detail, since when I read constant descriptive words that I have to look up to find its meaning it makes me skip that part of a person's story. So I tried to focus on the plot, but I guess I failed to write it well. Whatever I intend on fixing that issue _(smiles)_

**Joker:** Well practice makes peeeerrrfeect. _(licks lips wiggling eyebrows up and down suggestively)_

**Meg:**_ (pushes the Joker)_ You pig!

* * *

Summer's end normally means depressed youth walking around soaking in their last bit of freedom, away from the caged monstrous place they call school. The days get shorter and the sense of change is in the air. Change. The thing that has to happen in one's life all the time, whether it be small or big, it happens.

The police cruiser pulled up to the old hallow grounds slowly, driving in past the dejected rusty gates that welcomed those who entered its stronghold. Down the forgotten dusty path a ways slowly it crept along, deep into the mournful place.

The car stopped, Gordon leaned back in his seat, letting out a sigh. He turned to Nichole who was in the passenger seat, wearing her long black jacket to keep the chill summer's end breeze off of her. It had been two weeks since she was saved. She had to remain at the hospital for those two weeks under intensive physical and physiological care.

The J shaped scar on her right cheek was nearly healed, the stitches removed and her face no longer having a slight reddish irritated tint to it. The bruises on her arms, legs, and face had vanished, as well as all the minor cuts scattered across her pale body. By a sliver of light she was not pregnant. The thought of it hit her two days into her stay at the hospital and she had to be sedated before she ended up harming herself by thrashing about in her bed. In fact multiple times she had to be sedated, due to her outbursts and many times she woke up in the night with nightmares screaming at the top of her lungs.

When it was finally time to leave the hospital Gordon picked her up, offering her a ride to her new life which was to be outside the city, but Nichole asked him a favor. She asked if he would take a detour to a place she had requested before heading out to the new house Gordon and the rest of Gotham's law enforcement and government, was able to graciously get for her. All she had to do in return was tell them her whole story of what happened to her and things the Joker said and did to her and others. The date for her to tell people about it was of course going to be later in the year. They didn't want to force her to speak just yet.

Nichole opened the car door, leaving her hand on it pausing a moment. "I'll promise I will not take long..."

"No no go on take your time, the office said my only job today was to get you settled in your new house and take you to the school you will work at. Nichole if you think doing this will help you get settled then please take you time." He smiled at her.

"Gordon.....Thank you. You have done so much for me I-"

"Don't mention it."

She got out the car, holding firmly the bundle of flowers in her hand, staring at the ground as she moved forward fighting back the urge to let out her emotions.

There in the distance was the gray stone carved with a single name. The rest of the stones in that graveyard meant nothing to her at this moment. She quickened her pace standing in front of it, kneeling down to touch the rocky surface at the top, and then the smooth finish it possessed where the name was carved in it.

Nichole sighed, no longer able to hold herself in a kneel and sat on the cold earthy ground. She placed the flowers on the flat part of the grave, keeping her other hand on the name carved into it. The tears came out faster then she expected, and her head felt dizzy, so she leaned it on the grave, staring blankly at the name. "Clarissa Stevens".

"Mom....I love you." She told the grave, her tears dripping into her mouth as she spoke in nothing but a whisper. "Please...help me....I can't do this anymore. I can't sleep without seeing his face, I can't move around a corner without thinking I am going to see him. When I eat food I taste blood no matter what, and my face....I just look at it and think of him.....Yes I can cover it up...but the makeup comes off at one point....I see it...I see him attacking me. Please give me strength to live out this new life Gordon is offering. Please...help me..."

Nichole stared at the stone, knowing very well it would not answer her. She knew she would probably never have that life changing seemingly real dream of hers when her mother visited her. She longed for another one, but it was in vain. Signs pointed to the only way she could get another chat with her mother would be if she was about to die, or she did die. Suicide had been a thought of hers on and off ever since her rescue, but she shrugged if off, figuring her mother would be ashamed of her if she were to go through with it. She had to be strong.

She kissed the grave and stood up, heading back to Gordon's car, ready for this new life he spoke of, wishing that maybe tomorrow she would wake up and the past month and a half was all a dream. But she had made that wish every night for the past two weeks, and still her wish had not come true.

She reached inside her shirt pulling out a necklace she had on. It was a simple chain necklace with a half moon shaped charm at the end. It was recovered from Nichole's burnt house and given to her at the hospital. The backside had a black stain on it that would never come off. The necklace was her mother's, she had never worn it before, but rather kept it in an old box in her attic, but now she felt she needed it with her always. It had been worn by her mother almost everyday she was alive that Nichole could remember, and now maybe in some way it greaten her chance to be closer to her fallen mother. But the fact now was the necklace would never leave her sight or her neck.

She entered the car with more sadness than she had when she left it. Gordon sensed it and patted her shoulder and starting the car. This is why Nichole liked Gordon, he didn't fill the silence with useless comforting speeches, because nothing he said would have made it better. They drove out of the glum of the graveyard and out the city to the small town of Springfield that sat fifteen minutes outside of the boarders of Gotham City.

The place was an average town, with so many trees here and there and house that ranged in size and color. Nothing was higher than two stories and children were actually outside playing in their last few days of vacation.

Here was a place for her new home. Her new life.

The house was plain looking. A simple one story white house with a few bushes in front and flowers scattered, looking as if someone had hopelessly failed at making them in a specific pattern. A small fence lined the outside of the house, and white curtains were visible on the windows inside. It was a much prettier and grander house than her previous one, but it didn't satisfy her. In fact, it could have been a mansion and it wouldn't have satisfied her. She wanted her old house, but it was nothing but burnt ashes now.

Stepping inside, with the two suitcases full of new clothing and every day life products, Gordon help give the money for her to get, she peered around her new house. It had furniture already in its rooms. A living room, a kitchen with a table for eating in (which she didn't mind, she wasn't really a fan of having a separate dining room to eat in), a bathroom, and her bedroom. More then enough for her. It had a lovely backyard, something she hadn't seen in years.

"Well?" Gordon raised an eyebrow smiling watching Nichole's reaction.

"Its perfect..." She stated trying her best to add some enthusiasm to her voice. She was happy, but the house felt empty to her. It felt like it wasn't hers. "Thank you so much Gordon."

* * *

Sitting alone in her new house was a bit disturbing. The silence was the cause of it. No sound of a dog running back and forth around the house. Oh how she missed Atticus.

Tomorrow she was to go take a tour of the school with Gordon and see her new place of work. In three days she would begin her job as a teacher again. She hoped that in doing this it would take her mind off of everything.

She got up off the new sofa and rechecked, for the tenth time the security system pad by the front door to make sure it was on. Even though there was still some daylight left in the day, she was not going to have it off, ever. Nichole went into the stocked kitchen, generously provided by some charity company. She ate an orange, feeling in a healthy eating sort of mood. Her hands became rather sticky, so she made her way to the bathroom, flicking on the lights and turning on the sink to wash her hands.

Drying her hands off on her shirt, not bothering going into the closet to find a towel, she stared at herself in the mirror.

The scar would heal in a week more maybe, but thankfully for her the students and other teachers would never see it. Her nurse at the hospital ordered for her the makeup kit for her to hide it. She tried it out in her free time those two weeks she stayed at the hospital and it worked perfectly. She placed a thick layer of fake putty like "skin" over the scar, then put a heavy version of foundation over it to blend it in. No one would notice it.

Except for Nichole, when she came home and took off all the make up, there it would be, the dreaded scar, forever. The single letter J standing for his horrid name.

She stared hard at herself, and something odd happened. She wasn't staring at herself. She was staring at Candy, in full costume and makeup. Candy had a smirk on her face and the candy cane pole in her hand. She spoke in her soft and slow seductive voice, "So Nichole....I must admit the scar does suit you....but I think it looks more dashing on me." She pointed to the scar, which had red makeup lining it to emphasize it more.

Nichole stared in shock, and rubbed her eyes. Was she hallucinating? Not again. Maybe she fell asleep on the coach and this was some sick dream. She pinched her skin. Ouch! Nope....not a dream.

"Don't look so shocked Nichole, honestly im here to just see how your coping with everything, and by the look on your face I'd say you are..... losing...your.....mind....."

* * *

**Kait:**....._(crys)_ Its done...finished. _(crys more on the Joker's shoulder) _Time for the sequel but its still not the same! Eye Candy...Part One....over and done with _(blows nose in Joker's shoulder)_

**Joker: **_(awkwardly pats her back)_ Yeah....uh...._(pushes her to Meg) _Go cry to her.

**Meg:** ...Well I have an announcement to make...and it is sad, but I am not going to be returning to help with the sequel....I just do not have the time! I am sorry, but I have other commitments! So in my place....well that's the thing, Kait who's taking my place?

**Kait:** _(taps chin)_ I do not know, and I do not want to think about it, because I am going to miss you girl! _(hugs Meg and then forces the Joker to hug Meg as well)_

**Joker:** ....

**Meg: **Goodbye everyone..._(waves leaving the chat room)_

**Kait:** I want to thank all of my readers who have gotten this far, and if you all aren't cursing at me yet for an ending that leaves so many questions unanswered, well then I love you guys! Seriously if you all that reviewed my story had not reviewed I would not have written this, because I'd have figured everyone hated this story, and for those who never reviewed my story, but read it I love you guys too! I just hope you all will stick around for more. Just wait a few days, this story will have the next chapter in it! Thank you and reminder the next story will still be in this story, meaning it will not be two separate stories. The sequel will be the next chapters in this story. _(smiles taking a bow and leaving chat room)_


	30. The Lies Spoken Naturally

**Kait:** Could it be? I am back? In the flesh? Here? What! So this chapter has a sort of recap vibe to it. Just to warn you.

**Joker:** _(yells)_ OKAY! We uh...GET IT!

**Kait:** But hey its just the two of us now _(snuggles close to him with a stupid grin on her face)_

**Joker:** ...._(eyes go wide) _OH GOD HELP ME!_ (scratches at the walls to find way out)

* * *

_

**Eye Candy- Book Two**

Its amazing the things that happen in six months. Seasons change, people change, and hell even an economy can crumple to its lowest point.

A lot had happened to Nichole Stevens in six months as well.

A new life basically.

Six months ago if you had asked Nichole what she wanted the most, she would answer with the simple word of "Death".

You see, Nichole had the most unfortunate event happen in her life. At a party, the Joker had grabbed her and used her as a escape mechanism. Thinking she would be killed, she was actually shocked when he placed her in his beat up old van and brought her back to his household. The shock quickly turned to fear when his true motives to her were spoken. He would quote on quote "use her uses" fully, which meant many things in her case. Being beaten regularly, shamefully raped and the death of her dog, students, and dearest friend Tom.

The strangest thing though, was he forced her to run out and buy a whole outfit and take up an alter ego, which she named Candy. She was forced to do several criminal acts, including robbing a bank, shooting a cop in the leg, and whacking another guy with her only weapon....a large metal pole shaped like a cane and painted to look like a candy cane. The whole thing felt ridiculous and Nichole was downright ashamed of herself. She hated the Joker with all her might and nothing else would bring her joy then to see him being painfully stabbed in the gut while being boiled over a pot of warm water, till death.

Well something like that.

If you asked Nichole right now what she wanted the most, she would say "To forget".

But forgetting the Joker was a hard task in itself. Especially hard with the huge letter "J" cut into her cheek. Sure she had a special makeup kit to hide it, but once she was home, she took it off (as really it did tend to bug her all day, she had to stop herself from itching it and accidentally taking it off) and there it was. The ugly J that represented him. That was one thing that made it so hard to forget.

Nichole befriend Commissioner Gordon through all this, the man who rescued her and comforted her throughout the whole ordeal. He set her up with a new house and job in a town just outside the city.

**Five months ago,** Nichole was very grateful, but also extremely nervous as she walked into the new school setting for her first day of teaching. Last time she had been in a school she was forcefully dragged out by her hair and gunpoint by the Joker and shoved into a van where he shoved her and beat her, until he informed her he burned down her house and she was unawarely sitting on her dead dog.

Yes...Just a tad bit nervous.

Along with that in mind Nichole really hasn't been herself at all since her rescue, as this is normal she just does not want her new students to know all about her past.

Every time she hears a click noise, it could just be a creaky door frame or the click of someone's high heels, she flinches. All she can think about is the Joker's knife when she hears that noise. It is quiet noticeable when she does jump upon hearing it, and sometimes she has screamed at the noise. She must make up some excuse for it......

Another thing is sometimes random objects would cause her to go into what she referred to as "flash back mode". The objects could be something she had seen while she had been captured for that long month by him, or just the color purple even sets her off. She remembers one time she was in the mall looking for a new outfit to wear for the first day of teaching, and she saw a teenage boy, his hair all disheveled and greasy looking. It made her think of the Joker's disgusting and smelly green dyed hair and she nearly passed out. She told the security guards that asked if she was okay, that she just felt very hot in the store and she'd be fine. It was a lie she would have to say many times from now on.

The school actually wasn't as bad as she thought it be. The familiar noise of teenagers chatting in the crowded hallways, taking as much time as possible to get to their next class, and the quiet sighs of teachers as they know no one gives a fuck about anything they are saying.

A sudden wave of calmness fell over her, and she stepped inside her new classroom, carrying her messenger bag packed with a few lesson planning papers, some things to decorate her desk with, and a nice lunch. She didn't dare eat the cafeteria food. She knew what those things were made out of!

The classroom was well sized, about twenty three desks neatly placed behind one another in rows, and her desk off to the side of the classroom, bare and blank. She fixed that in a heart beat, placing a few picture frames, odd assortments and knick knacks on it to make her feel more at home in this strange place.

Sitting quietly at her desk, she glanced at the computer the school provided her with. It was old, white, and HUMONGOUS! What was that thing made in the seventies? There was no way she was using that...._thing. _So she pulled out her laptop from her messenger back, and plugged it into the nearest outlet, satisfied upon hearing the low beep registering it was booting up.

She logged herself onto her email account, seeing she received a email from her brother Nate. She opened it eagerly, happy to hear from her brother. Nichole, had lived with her brother since she was around eight years old, and adored him. Nate was a very kind older brother and always looking out for her best interests. After some time thought he enlisted in the army and went away, she still had not seen him in years.

After the incident with her and the Joker, her brother got some special permission to be able to email Nichole more frequently then allowed, to comfort her.

"_Little Sister!!!!!!!!" _was the title of the email. She let out a small laugh clicking on it.

"_Hey little sis! So its your big day! Starting your new job! Are you excited? Don't worry, you will do fine. Mom would be proud of you. I know I am. Today I have been reassigned to the computer lounge mission control sector, and that means there is a chance that soon I will be able to come back to America! AHH! I know I am excited too. If I hear anymore on the subject I will email you, but things are looking brighter. I really hope to see you soon. Send a picture my way....oh hey better idea send a pic of you and your class together! Hahaha asking them the first day to pose for a picture might be a little strange, but that's okay. Talk to your later Nichole I have to go now. Best of luck!_

_-Nate aka The Natester"_

That last part made her laugh really loud. A little inside they shared. She reread the letter, and realized how much she really did miss Nate, but it sounded as if he would return soon. Thank lord.

Nichole grabbed ahold of the chain around her neck. The necklace she wore, a simple chain with a half a moon charm at the end. The only thing she had left of her mother. She often found herself running the charm up and down the chain, when she was nervous about something. Looking down she saw in fact she was doing it at this very moment.

_Stop it...there is nothing to be fearful of. You have taught before. _Nichole told herself.

The door opened, and students piled into her history classroom. Nichole jumped in her seat, but not because the shock of the students actually coming into the class. The door, it made the dreaded sound. A clicking noise. Note to herself, get the hinges fixed.

Nichole stood up, writing "Miss Stevens" on the white board. The students already were bored out of their minds, not wanting to be at school. Really wanting to be home sleeping.

Nichole bit her lip, glancing at every student. They gave off a look that read, "So..What now? We hate you."

She sighed taking the marker and putting a big "X" over Miss Stevens and wrote Nichole on the board. She threw the marker on the ground and walked over sitting on the her desk. "Okay I get it. I honestly do." She crossed her legs and rested her hands on the desk leaning back casually. "You all do not want to be here. Heck I don't want to be here, but that's how I get paid and put food on the table, and well the government is forcing you all to be here, so I guess we have reached an impasse."

The students perked up upon hearing this, some realizing that maybe Nichole wasn't a lame new teacher after all. Some even giggled.

"And I know you probably went through all this introduction crap for the past...oh I don't know ten years of your life so I don't even see the point to it. I'm Nichole and you are my students. Nice to meet you!" She waved, a few waved back and some guys who she automatically picked out to be the "class clowns" yelled "HI!" back to her.

"So I was never really a fan of school. It was sooooo boring. That's why I became a teacher. To make it more spicy and fun. I was one of you at one point. Falling asleep on my desk due to studying hard for some other class's test, then getting yelled at by my teacher for falling asleep. School takes away hours of your time and then you get in trouble for trying to make up the need to sleep? Doesn't make sense in my book. So I say if you need to sleep. Be my guest. Just...don't do it all the time."

Yes. By now all the students had bright smiles on their faces. They thought this was going to be the kick ass class for the year.

"As for cell phones and this policy not to use them.....Just...keep them low enough so no other teachers passing by see them and wonder why I can't....oh and by the way im blind." Nichole placed one hand over her eye, smiling. "I can't see that student in the purple sweatshirt in the back row texting right now."

Everyone turned and face the boy in the purple sweatshirt, who's face started turning bright red embarrassed he had been caught.

Nichole became transfixed on his sweatshirt. Purple. An image of the Joker's purple long dirty coat came into her head. The gasoline smell it gave off.

Nichole doesn't know how, but she ended up falling off the desk. The students all gasps, some standing up in there chairs to see if she was alright.

"Whoa...sorry...Didn't drink my coffee." Nichole lied, standing up sitting in the desk's chair. "Alright let's learn names of each other..."

If this was going to happen all the time, Nichole might just be better off in Arkam in a padded cell.

* * *

The day finished up nicely. The students simply adored her compared to their other teachers and it wasn't hard to see why. Most of them were old, and looked as if they whiffed a foul smell all the time. Their voices hoarse, probably from smoking at a young age or something.

Nichole did find saviors though. She met two teachers who were slightly older then her. There names were Clarissa, and Kara. The two had stopped by the give Nichole a bit of comfort for her new job. She was thankful they didn't know about her past, or else she figured they wouldn't have even bothered to stop.

"Hi there. Your the new teacher. Nichole right?"

Nichole looked up from her desk, which she had been staring at trying to stop the random thoughts of the Joker from flooding her mind. "Huh? Oh yes. I am, and you are?"

The female outstretched her hand, she wore a warm smile and had her jet black hair pulled into a rather tight bun. "I'm Clarissa, I teach English just across the hallway, I heard you were new and just wanted to welcome you to our...." She cringed. "Happy school."

They shook hands and Nichole laughed. "Not a fan of this place?"

"In a way you could say that. I might be if the school heated our building once and a while and well yanno paid us a little more." The two laughed, hearing a knock on the door.

"Knock Knock. Welcoming committee member number two coming in. Hello Nichole, I'm Kara. I teacher Geometry on the third floor. Out building isn't very large, so when a new teacher hops on board its all the talk at lunch." Kara looked like one of those thirty year old women who still wanted to cling onto her youth, and stray away from the adult she was. The inappropriate low V-neck shirt was a dead give away, but Nichole smiled happy to have someone talking to her.

"Well very nice to meet you both. I just hope I do okay here." She tapped the pen in her hand on the desk.

"Oh I am sure you will." Clarissa spoke. "As long as you.....don't get on Mr. Ramond's bad side."

Mr. Ramond was the principle, and Nichole had already heard from her new students what a jerk he was. He made one girl ball her eyes out and transfer schools. Another boy, who got straight A's all the time and was destine to go to an advance school, got his chances pulled by Mr. Ramond, since he accidentally crashed into a window and broke it at lunch, tripping on loose floor tile.

"So Nichole. Me and Clarissa..."

"Clarissa and I." Clarissa corrected Kara.

Kara rolled her eyes batting her hand in the general direction of Clarissa. "Oh you and your English fetish. Well Clarissa and I." She made sure to put emphasis on the words, "Were thinking of going out to dinner tonight, and we would be happy to see if you wished to join us. God knows in a place like this we need other teachers our age who can relate to this hell hole."

"Hell hole?"

"Oh please tell you have noticed the fact almost every teacher here looks like they should be retired! They could be my grandparents. We can't relate to them at all. Some don't even...." Kara gulped. "Know what digital television is."

Nichole threw her hands up in fake shock and hung her mouth open. "OH NO! Not that!"

The three laughed. "Yes well I would love to join you guys for dinner."

And that sparked the friendship of the three teachers and Nichole discovered what she really needed in her life right now. Friends. Of course she would never tell them of her past, and always was self conscious around them thinking the makeup to hide her J scar would wear off. She had thought of a few lies to tell if she was discovered.

_Attacked and branded by a huge play school child block with the letter J on it! It was horrible!_

Or her personal favorite

_A coat hanger attacked me....twice._

But hopefully she would never have to discuss it with them.

* * *

A few days later, Clarissa, Nichole, and Kara were in the teacher's lounge eating their lunches, when Kara pulled out a newspaper and slammed it on the table a disgusted look on her face.

"The weirdos out there today!"

Clarissa rolled her eyes. "What now Clarissa? Find another exciting article?"

"No no no its just this city...Gotham City..Nichole weren't you from there?"

Panic hit her, but Nichole stayed calm and kept a straight face. "Yes...horrible city. Dirty and disgusting. Much better here." Keeping her sentences simple was all she had to focus on.

"Well look at this whack job. The Joker behind bars and in Arkam for a month now. Will the death penalty be registered? LOOK AT ALL THESE CRIMES HE'S COMMITED! WHY WOULD THEY QUESTION IT!?! He should die!"

Nichole dropped the apple piece she was just about to plop in her mouth. She looked at the paper in Kara's hands and there on the cover was the unmistakable picture of the Joker wearing his ugly scarred grin. Nichole looked down at the table taking her eye of the picture trying to remember how to breath again. The feeling of him cutting the scar into her face took over her, and she griped the edge of the table to stop herself from shaking. Luckily the two didn't notice.

"Well Kara its obvious this man is mental, but what is to say if they take those who need help in the head and just kill them all off. Its a tad bit mean of society to make death the solution to its problem. This man needs a doctor."

"What this man needs is a good hanging. I mean he dresses up as a...excuse my French...but he dresses up as a fucking clown! Face paint, purple suit and those horrible scars! Yanno people think he gave the scars to himself and not his twisted stories! How does he need a doctor? Why would he be able to get off from his crimes?"

"He is not right in the head and deserves to be helped just as anyone else. His case is just more severe."

"He threated to bomb the whole Gotham City. He killed dozens of people. Not even Batman could stop him. He took a women hostage and she was never seen again. No body found no trace of evidence. It says so right here!"

Nichole froze. The hostage...was her. The police just made it a cold case. A waving hand was in front of her face as Kara spoke. "Nichole please talk some sense into Clarissa. Don't you think this man should be just put to death."

Oh like hell he should. It took all her power to not say that out loud. To not scream like bloody hell and say how evil he really thought he was.

"He's not a man in my eyes....He is a monster. He can't even be called human. Therefor I do agree death is the only option for that....that thing." Was all she could say in a shaky voice. The two were too heated up in their argument to ask as to why she seemed so jumpy.

"Thank you. At least SOMEONE at this table is sane."

But Nichole was far from sane. There was one last thing she forgot to mention to Gordon, whom she told all of her problems too, not being able to handle a clicking noise, not being able to look at the color purple and such. There was one thing she didn't tell him...

Three times, she looked in the mirror and didn't see herself. She saw the alter ego she had been forced to create. She saw Candy standing there with a mischievous grin on her face. She saw blood everywhere and Candy spoke in the tone of voice Nichole created for her. Slow, seductive and soft. Candy spoke odd things along the lines of: "I hope you feel better." "You look like you have seen a ghost." "Look what you've done. Look at this blood. Think of the cop you shot in the leg. How he feels" and the one that made her cry each time it was spoken, "The Joker misses you."

It was the oddest thing, but she chose not to tell Gordon, fearing he'd call her crazy and lock her up in Arkam. But maybe she was crazy. Her alter ego....herself was talking to her.

Sometimes even, she wouldn't be by a mirror and words would come out of her mouth that she didn't know why she would say it, and it would be in the tone of voice of Candy and be things that Candy would say. They would only be brief, and would happen randomly.

"Heh...yeah sane..." Nichole spoke softly. So quietly they did not hear her, nor did they hear her stand up and walk into the bathroom. She shut the door, locking it (since teacher's bathrooms were a single toilet area) and leaned on the door, slowly sliding to the ground. She drew up her knees and cried into her skirt. All it took was one image of the Joker to send her off the deep end.

"Honey...suck it up. Your going to have to get used to looking at the Joker." Nichole said to herself..but wait she didn't mean to say that. It came out, and it came out as if Candy spoke it. Oh gosh not again.

"Just shut up." Nichole said firmly into her skirt. "Calm down Nichole. Your just....just....overstimulated."

"Oh doll face....the same thing happened to me a few minutes ago when I saw that handsome smiled placed upon my idol's face." Nichole...well Candy spoke.

"What?" Nichole said to herself, covering her mouth to stop words and the tone of voice from coming out. This was getting a little too freaky for her. "Stop talking" She muffled into her hand.

She uncovered her mouth and breathed a sign of relief when nothing she didn't want came out. Maybe she was still just imagining it. It was just the voice she created for herself, nothing more.

Nichole walked over to the mirror, washing her face in the beat up sink to make it appear as if she was not just crying up a storm, and just minding her own business in the bathroom. Whatever it may be.

She exited the bathroom and headed back to the table where her new friends and and workmates waited.

* * *

**Kait:** _(gulps)_ Its hard getting back into the swing of writing, so I am not too sure about this chapter. Heck I seriously am so tired right now I bet there are so many typos and shit. I am too tired to reread it so yes. It kinda isn't my best.

**Joker:** _(slaps the back of Kait's head) _Slacker! You need to get a plan going to stop this nonsense.

**Kait:** _(glares at the Joker while rubbing head)_ I thought you hate plans!

**Nichole:** That he does so he wasn't planning on this! _(breaks her candy cane pole over his head knocking the Joker out)_

**Kait:** _(looks over the unconscious Joker then to Nichole then back to the Joker, before throwing her hands up in the air)_ GREAT! He's going to think it was me that did it when he wakes up.


	31. The Assembly

**Kait:** Well I have good news everyone...PRESENTING MY NEW HELPER! _(curtains open up to reveal)_

**Sydney:** _(emulates the Saturday Night Fever Pose)_ SHALOMMMMM!!!!! =D. Man.. I am so glad that Kait FINALLY has this up! I'm trying to get her to snap out of her "lack of updating."

**Kait:** _(raises eyebrow)_ My WHAT?!

**Sydney:** Heh hehe you know I'm kidding Kait. But yes, like Kait I too have a reeeeeeeaaalllly busy life outside of fanficion. So please please please be patient. Kait and I are working on a fantastic second season for you guys! Well mostly Kait…

**Joker:** Then i still must ask...WHY AM I HERE!? I'm GETTING OUT OF HERE _(grabs a random spoon and tries to dig his way out of the room, only to find the floors are made of concrete. He throws his handds up in the arm dramatically while instense music plays)_ CURSE YOU FANGIRLS AND YOUR INESCAPABLE ROOMS!

**Never done one of these for this part of the book so might as well: I do NOT own Christopher Nolan's Batman universe, or Heath Ledger's Joker, though i am working hard to tap into a time machine and own them both so i can make a billion dollers**

* * *

The six months of teaching so far had been quite easy. Learning was twenty five percent of the class, and the other seventy-five was chatting and merriment. Nichole was slowly getting her life back together now. Gordon visited and called her often to see how she was doing, and each time Nichole would ask the same question almost automatically, "Is he still in Arkam?" and then Gordon would reply, "Don't worry that son of a bitch is locked up good and tight."

Life was settling down, and the panic attacks happened less often, and when they did it was with less affect. Only a few times did the students ever mention the Joker, and coincidentally, one of the times was when the subject of anarchy came up in her history lesson. Nichole mistakenly called on a girl named Ariel, who always had trouble grasping concepts in her classroom.

"So...I still don't get it." Ariel admitted, drumming her fingers on her graffiti filled desktop.

Half the classroom moaned at Ariel's question. One girl face palmed. Nichole was shocked herself; she thought she explained the concept of anarchy very well.

She of **all** people would know more about it.

"Well...Let's see... How can I put this..." Nichole began.

"But Anarchy is something that like isn't around today so I really can't understand the mentality of it. Our government is stable, so why in the past was our government corrupted? How could it be? It's impossible."

One boy, named Jesse (Nichole originally had problems whenever she read his name on a paper...The letter J still made her flinch) spoke up. "Well what about that thing that happened in Gotham City. Anarchy happened there kinda...It was caused by the Joker, right?" He turned to Nichole searching in her facial expression to see if he was correct.

Nichole's face paled.

"Y-....Y-...Y-_e-aaa-h_. That's correct." She laughed nervously.

"The Joker?" Ariel asked, pondering. "Never heard of him," She stated.

"Are you kidding? It was all over the news **EVERYWHERE!** He almost single handedly took the whole city of Gotham; which is only like a half hour away from here. Didn't you wonder why all our cops were suddenly not around for weeks? They were busy in Gotham, that's why we were able to have that party in the cornfield without worrying about getting caught. The Joker killed so many cops and citizens. Some randomly just for the heck of it. I heard he was walking down the street towards Batman and was shooting at cars randomly and in one of those cars he ended up killing a five year old!"

Ariel gasped as her face filled with horror. "What! What the hell?! Why would he do such a thing?"

Before Jesse could say anything more, Nichole slammed her hand loudly in frustration and raised her voice in such a tone that made some of the teenagers jump. "Look! I do not want to talk about him in this classroom! Ariel, if you are interested in him, look him up online at your house or something. No more discussions about that....that_ lunatic_!"

Nichole turned to the board, biting her lip, and began to write more lessons on it, and heard a mumble of people wondering why she freaked out like that. Some were guessing that someone Nichole knew must have been killed by the Joker. How right they were.

* * *

Nichole laid on her over sized bed, staring at the ceiling, counting the small grooves and cracks in it. Her IPod playing into her ears softly. Her hands snaked their way out from under her head as she rolled onto her side to face the wall with the well-sized window on it. The cloudless sky provided an excellent view of the stars, which were Nichole's new favorite thing to gaze at. When she lived in Gotham all the city lights prevented one from seeing the stars, but now she was free to gaze at them to her heart's desire. The way they twinkled against the pool of darkness known as the sky truly made her smile.

She felt the bed shift slightly and looked up, to notice the cat had jumped up onto the bed and walked slowly to Nichole's side. She smiled. She bought the cat three months into living at the new house. She stroked behind his ears, and he gave an affectionate purr. "Hehe...Hey Gordon." She named her cat after the man that saved her life. She would never have the guts to tell Jim Gordon that she named a cat after him though. It would be an awkward conversation.

Gordon climbed up Nichole and laid on her chest, curling up into a ball, tail twitching slightly until he was comfortable.

Nichole glanced over at the time, it was around midnight.

_Better go bed now or I'll fall asleep while I teach tomorrow. Not that the students would mind, but still....Stupid Principle warned me already to do a better job, when he walked in on my class when we were off topic....Hm....Maybe I should just take tomorrow off. My throat is a little scratchy; I've needed a drink like once every hour. I still have a ton of sick days so what the hell… Might as well take it._

She let out a yawn, rolling over onto her side, completely forgetting her cat was on her chest; Gordon ended up falling to the side, with a small hiss.

"Oh!" She sat up worried, "Sorry Gordon." she stroked him once more, and his anger ceased. She laid back down, "What do you think, cat? Should I go to work tomorrow?"

Gordon meowed, whether it be from the fact he loved the way she was petting him, or he was really answering her question, Nichole laughed. "I take that as an 'I better go to work or I won't have the money to get you your special kitty food'." Gordon meowed again, this time for sure he meowed at the word "Food" which he learned what it meant early on in life.

"Alright...Alright I'll go to work tomorrow....but I'm not happy about it." She joked, shutting her own eyes getting comfortable.

She was just about to fall asleep when she heard a ringing noise. It took a few moments for her to come out of her almost comatose like state to realize her house phone was ringing.

_What the hell? Who would be calling at this hour? Probably just those damn telemarketers trying to get me to buy something. I'll just let it ring...._

The telephone stopped ringing just for a moment, before it started back up. "Ugh! Shut up!" she yelled at her phone, throwing a spare pillow at it. She gasped when she looked up and saw her pillow hit the phone, sending it crashing to the ground and the phone off the hook. "Good that will teach you." She told her phone in a firm voice, laying back down and rolling over. "Honestly calling me now..._pft."

* * *

_Nichole drove her car down the streets, trying to juggle keeping her eye on the road, and trying to reach down to her glove compartment to pull out her pack of cough droplets.

The two story brick building came into view and she flicked on her left blinker pulling into the parking lot reserved for staff members only… even though she knew for a fact some students parked there due to the fact it was closer to the building and some were too lazy to walk a couple extra feet. She grabbed a hold of her bag and laptop, and went inside, giving a small nod to the receptionist as she checked in for work.

"Rough night?" The receptionist asked, seeing Nichole's tired eyes dart around the room.

"Eh...Couldn't sleep very well, but hopefully the joys and smiles of my students will cheer me up. Just seeing their bright shiny faces will do the trick." Nichole replied sarcastically, with a fake grin.

The receptionist snickered as Nichole left the main office up to the second floor to her classroom. A few minutes later her first period of the day class came tumbling into the room There was a mixed feeling among them. Some were happy it was Friday, tasting the bit of freedom the weekend held for them. Others didn't care what day it was, just the fact that they were in school was bad enough for them.

"Good morning everyone! So aren't you all excited it's Friday? I know I am. Anyone got anything special going on this weekend?" Nichole asked.

"Yeah, I have a date with my eyelids and a bed." The class clown, Cameron, stated.

"Ah...I wish I could have that date right now." Jesse moaned, leaning forward and dramatically slamming his head on the desk. "Miss, I think I'm going to take today's class off." His words mumbled off his desk, while he brought his arms up to hide his head, taking the usual "sleeping in class" position.

Many students laughed, even Nichole did. She briskly walked over, a grin still in plain sight on her face and got her water bottle, pouring a bit of it on Jesse's shaggy head. Normally she wouldn't commit such acts, even if everyone, including Jesse, thought it was funny. But Jesse had done something similar to her once the first week she came here. So payback time was now.

"Hey..HEY! MISS! UGH!" Jesse perked up. "Miss that was not necessary!" He shook his head sending water droplets in every direction. He tried to keep a straight face, but laughed.

Nichole had gotten used to the title of "Miss". It seemed now a days that was what everyone called a teacher, regardless if they were Mrs. or Miss.

"Oh boo hoo." She said faking concern. She laughed and ended up coughing due to her throat. She took the remainder of the water in the bottle and drunk it down. "Now everyone, since today is Friday and I myself am not feeling up for anything, I think it's best if we used this class as a study period. After all in two weeks you have Midterms, best get a head start on it." She winked.

"Oh yeah… Sure, we'll study-" said Robert.

With that, the entire class moved their desks so they could face one another and the talking began. Nichole had trained her class well. They were able to keep their voices at a medium level so no other teachers would come in and wonder why the class was being so loud.

Nichole sighed walking to her desk, realizing she still had to grade last week's test they took on the Nile River. _Great, just what I need; number crunching and ridiculous answers supplied by people who have no idea._

When someone in her class had no idea to an answer on her quiz or test, at first she would just get a simple "I don't know" in the blank spot. As the school year went on the class decided to become more hilarious, and wrote things like "Your Mom" or "Toilet Paper." One time she had the question, "Who was the second Vice President?" and got the answer of "Michael Jackson". Due to the increasing number of ridiculous answers, Nichole made it her duty to read aloud what people wrote down, and then laughter ensued.

The class ended about a half hour later as the annoying bell rang. Everyone dashed out of their seat, saying a goodbye to Nichole, some giving her a high five.

Everyone left the room but Ariel. Ariel walked over to Nichole's desk, her eyes staring at the floor. Nichole now remembered that Ariel was not hyper and talkative as she was on other days.

"Miss....Nichole can I talk to you? Yanno… Like you give me a pass for my next class?"

"I have door watching duty next class, so I can have another teacher do it for me....but are you sure you want to talk to me about whatever it is, and not a guidance consoler?"

"Yeah..I'm sure. It's actually kinda embarrassing and not that big of a deal, but I just feel more comfortable talking to you, instead of those guidance consolers who care nothing about us, and only care about the pay check rolling into their hands every Friday."

"Hmm...Well.. Now that you put it that way." Nichole laughed, standing up and pulling a chair over to her desk. She walked over to the phone and asked the office to get a replacement for her door watching duty. That duty was to sit by the front doors of the building and let people in who needed to walk in, make students who were tardy sign in, and keep out those who didn't need to be there.

"So what's on your mind?" Nichole asked, sitting back in her comfy spinney chair.

"Well...that's basically it. What is on my mind?"

"I don't follow." Nichole raised an eyebrow. She wasn't very used to this kind of "psychology" talk, as she put it.

"Look… I'll stop beating around the bush. I had a nightmare last night and it really really creeped me out. Like, never in my life have I had one that caused me not to fall back asleep for the rest of the night. I don't even know why I had it, but I did and it was scary and I'm still freaked out by it." Ariel blushed embarrassed.

"Ariel, don't be embarrassed. We all have nightmares. I know what you mean about it though. I....I myself have had some that caused me not to sleep. I even had nights I stayed up all night just to not see him...I mean _them_. Ugh..." Nichole tried to steer Ariel away from asking who "him" was, by asking a question. "So care to explain your nightmare?"

"Well...It was about the Joker."

Nichole tightened her grip on her chair's armrest. She felt her heart begin to pound loudly. "Oh..." She squeaked. "Really? The _J-J_....That guy? Why would you have a dream about him? That's odd." She talked longer than she meant to, and her voice was still squeaking away like a mouse. The one thing she could not bring herself to say was _his_ name. It was too painful.

"Member that day in class Jesse brought up the Joker and you told us to look him up if you wanted to know about him?"

Nichole nodded to show she was listening, while the Joker's laugh played repeatedly in her mind. "Mmm hmm."

"Well I never originally looked him up when you told us. I didn't feel the need. That, and also I think I forgot about it once I got home, but then I saw something about him on the news last night and I thought 'What the hell might as well look him up,' so I did. And it creeped me out. Just looking at him and his scars, I think I fucking lost it when I saw his picture. I read all that he had done too! People are still missing that they haven't found the bodies of. He took some women from a party at gun point and they don't know where she is! I mean what the hell! That's fucked up! The Joker is creepy!"

"Yeah....very..." _Oh you have no idea_, Nichole thought. It suddenly dawned on her._ Why would they have something about him on the news? He's locked up. That's old news._ "Why was he on the news?"

"Sorry...I kinda forget. I saw his picture on the television and kinda got lost in it. But anyway I went to bed and I had a nightmare about him. He came into my room and carved my face into that hideous smile!"

Nichole began to shake again. She flashed back to the moment he cut the J into her face.

"_Oh what's wrong Nichole? Do you keep forgetting you belong to me?" His voice was like nothing she ever heard. It was deep and husky. On the edge and unpredictable. Sometimes it would go up a few ochtives and down to a point she didn't think a voice could reach. He was a dog off the leash and he was going to bite Nichole hard._

_He pushed her face down into his leg, so she was forced to look up at him. "Maybe I should just give you something to remind you, that you. Are. Mine." He smirked and took out his knife soaked in Tom's blood._

_With that he stabbed downward into Nichole's face. Not by her mouth to her surprise but into her right cheek. But really did it matter where it was? What mattered was it was the most pain she ever had been through._

_The Joker laughed spastically as he dove the knife in deeper in her cheek, curving downward in it. She could feel the tip of the knife actually in her mouth; he broke through the skin all the way. The blood poured into her mouth and down her throat due to the stupid thing called gravity, and choked her. The gagging caused her screams to be blocked. She tried to cough but her body just shook. The sound of her muscle tearing from the blade echoed in her ears as he went back up and did a straight line in her cheek as well. The taste of copper filled her mouth, and tear blurred her vision. She thought in the back of her mind, it was good thing she couldn't see. She didn't want the Joker's face to be the last thing she saw before she died....because she knew it she was going to die and that this pain would only last a few more moments._

_The Joker's blade left her cheek and she heard him throw it off to the side, hearing the metal clank against cement. "Bea-uuuu-tiful." He ran a finger on whatever he cut into her face, making sure to put a ton of pressure on it. Blood squirted out and run down her face onto his clothing, but it didn't matter. His masterpiece was allowed to flow freely out of her._

She felt something shaking her shoulders. "NICHOLE! MISS! MISS! SNAP OUT OF IT!"

"Huh? Wha-? What's going on?" Nichole caught her breath, staring at Ariel who had the look of pure terror in her eyes.

"Miss you started shaking and your eyes rolled into the back of your head! Like they do on TV! I didn't know that really could happen in real life but, then you screamed! Miss, are okay?!"

Nichole frowned, sitting up and letting out a sigh. "Yes, sorry I um....I have a medical condition." she lied.

"Are you sure? I've never seen anything like that." Ariel, had calmed down a bit seeing Nichole responding to her.

"Yes, sorry I just...I um...get flashbacks of stuff." Crap, she didn't mean to say that. Too much info, prepare for the questions.

"Flashbacks? Of what?" Ariel asked.

"Oh....just...yanno nightmares I have had. The condition makes me think and feel like they are real and actually happening to me. Sorry to frighten you." She smiled, hoping that was the end of it.

Before Ariel could respond, an announcement on the school speaker came on. _"Attention, everyone report to the auditorium please for an assembly. Everyone sit towards the front in a neat and orderly fashion, none of that behavior that happened at the Thanksgiving Day assembly better not happen today, or the Christmas Dance in two weeks WILL be canceled. Understand?"_

"Guess we'd better head down. Don't that pass anymore heh." Nichole said relieved that she didn't have to have this chat with Ariel anymore. Not that she didn't like Ariel.. She was just afraid that if the conversation continued, she would end up breaking down in front of her.

"What's the assembly on this time? It's too far away to be the Christmas one, and there is no holiday this week or major sports event." Ariel mused.

"Huh...that's funny you'd think I'd know too, but my guess is it is about Drugs, like they all are." The two left the classroom while they talked heading, downstairs to the auditorium. "I mean seriously, every assembly they squeeze in a lecture about the dangers of drugs. About time they made a full one about it, but I keep wondering with all this nagging about it, it's going to encourage students TO DO drugs just so they don't have to listen to the lecture for the hundredth time!"

Ariel giggled. "Miss, you rock."

"I try...Anyways go on sit with your friends, I have to sit with the other boring teachers, and hey if you ever need to talk just come to me, okay?" She didn't honestly mean that if they were going to have to talk about the Joker more.

Ariel smiled, "Thank you so much miss… and once again, you rock!" She gave her signature thumbs up and then dashed to meet up with her other senior friends.

Nichole sighed sitting somewhat towards the back row of the theater, Kara and Clarissa seated next to her. "So what's this one about?" She asked them.

"Beats me, but once I find out I think I might just go grab my laptop and type all this time." Kara said.

"Haha good idea, I might do that too, oh....right I have stupid tests to grade."

"Nichole good news though!" Clarissa exclaimed, "Soon the school will be getting this automatic grading sheet thing called a Scantron. Its bubbling answers and then you put the sheet in the machine and it grades itself. I've seen one in action and it only takes like two minutes."

Nichole grinned, placing her hands out in front of her mimicking a scale, "Let's see one hour." She raises one hand up high, "Or two minutes." She raises that hand up high and the other low to mimic a scale evening out. "Yeah I am going with two minutes, that is great!"

"I know finally this city giving us money, normally all the money in this state goes to Gotham and they completely forget about towns like us."

Kara snorted, "Gotham....I'd like to see that city burn to the ground. Bunch of weirdoes there. Men dressing up as bats. Even if the spandex looks hot on him, it's still creepy."

The three teachers laughed, Nichole ran her fingers through her dirty blonde hair, "I wish they would just get this thing over with."

As if on cue, the lights dimmed, a triumphant smile spread on Nichole's face and she whispered, "I guess I have the making to becoming a physic." The students did not cease their loud talking and laughter, and the strict teachers who sat more in the middle of everything so they could scold people without having to even get up, starting shushing everyone annoyingly.

It took a good minute for everyone to shut up, and even then there were still a few boys in the back row near Nichole who didn't stop talking, not that she minded.

The maroon curtains opened up on stage, Nichole didn't see it, but heard it as she was too preoccupied with the hangnail she had to take care of. Not even bother looking up at the stage. She heard the sound of a microphone being turned on, and tapped a few times to be checked if it was working.

Nichole glanced up to see a dark figure at the microphone, the light still not turned on him or her yet. She guessed it was the principle or the vice principle, after all a lot of things happened for them to want to call this meeting. The food fight last Monday, last assembly's behavior, or the fact half the school was failing.

She leaned back in her chair and focused on the back board of the chair in front of her. The person who was seated in front of her, was a rather fat senior that dropped out of her class the second day, not because he wanted to, but because he had to go into a "dumber version" of it. With him in front of her, and her seated the way she was, Nichole could not see the stage at all. She could only hear, the principle began to speak, a little deeper than usual, but he was probably just mad about a food fight that happened on Monday and decided to put on his anger voice.

"Good morning ladies and gents...." Spoke the voice at the microphone. "Today is a very special day...."

Wait...she knew voice from somewhere...

"Today you will all learn about revenge and a little bit about possession_-nah._"

_No...It can't be..._

The color started to drain from Nichole's face. No...It couldn't be. She perked up as the light switch was turned on and revealed her worst nightmare.

The Joker stood by the microphone, grinning manically at the crowd, knife in hand and in full purple suit and makeup. "And I am not leaving here until I collect what's mine." And he began to laugh.

* * *

**Kait:** So guys wanna see a VERY VERY BAD DRAWING I DID FOR THIS STORY?! _(arms flailing outwards excitedly)_

**Joker:** No...

**Sydney:** _(BOPS Joker's head with michrophone)_ YES!!! :] and it is not horrible!

**Kait:** Alright prepare for ugliness._ H t t p : / / k a I t y k I n s . d e v I a n t a r t . c o m / a r t / E y e – C a n d y – J o k e r – F a n f I c – O C – 1 0 9 7 1 0 7 1 5 (delete the spaces and enter it in the address bar) _

**P.S: I am posting this on 1.22.09. Excatly a year ago Heath Ledger pass away. R.I.P and i hope you all watch the Screen Actors Guild awards because he is up for supporting actor, and also watch the oscars. Oh and Heath...congrates on the Goldon Globe.**


	32. Pure Chaos

**Kait:** Again...I am slow at updating this. You have my apologies. _(bows her head in shame) _On the bright side, the next two chapters are going to be kick ass!

**Sydney:** _(punches air)_ Hell yes they are! And I am so happy that Kait is accepting some of my ideas! It makes me feel very happy inside! And thank you very much for welcoming me to the team. Just letting you guys know, the next two chapters are going to be based on a dream I had.

**Joker:** You dream about me!?! _(glares)_

**Sydney:** uh...Maybe_ (backs up)_

**Kait: **Joker we all dream about you and sexiness.

**Joker:** .... _(facepalms)

* * *

_

There he stood; the devil himself. Wearing his purple jacket and his purple pants, green vest and greasy makeup dumped on his face. He looked just as she remembered, but his appearance worse in the flesh. The scars were visible even from were she was seated.

A small sweat droplet ran down the back of her neck as his aura of pure evil filled the room. Her heart stopped, and her breathing was cut short by the hand she clamped over it to stop herself from screaming at the top of her lungs. The room was already filled with everyone's screaming or gasping. It wouldn't have mattered, but with the Joker, she would bet he'd be able to recognize her scream, just because he was inhuman like that.

And from all she remembered, her scream was one of the most appealing things to him.

She sunk into her seat, thanking the lord for the fat student seated in front of her. She pinched her arm to see if this was all another one of those horrible illusions or she was day dreaming. But the minimal pain that came from where she pinched made a few tears flow down her face. Not from the small pain, but from the terror she felt.

She wiped her eyes, as the Joker began to speak. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

However, _his_ knife that he held in his hand and was waving around to make sure everyone got a good look at it, was not a pun-making matter.

"Now now there is no need for all the-..." He smacked his lips together, not bothering to finish his sentence, for everyone had immediately bit their tongues and hid their screams. Small whimpers were all that were heard.

He grinned and make a clicking noise with his mouth. "I seemed to left something here" he slurred, "better check lost and found or better yet..." his eyebrows raised with his new idea." Would the lost please come up on stage to be _found-dah?_"

Nobody understood what he was saying. The only person who did was in the back row, literally feeling every wound he had ever inflicted on her at the moment.

"Let me rephrase this....So....there is someone...in here right now that _uh_, belongs to **me**. If that person would so kindly come up to the stage right now I can be on my way here without severely punishing you all." He laughed; however, no one found it funny. He rolled his eyes looking irritated.

Nichole sunk lower into her chair, if that was even possible. She knew from the stage where he stood, the light was brightly on him and he could not see clearly in the audience. All he could see was darkness. Good thing too, because he'd easily be able to see the shaking-in-her-seat Nichole.

"Well if that's the way we are going to play _it-tah_." He reached in his pocket pulling out a small walkie talkie. Nichole's mind was racing. Debating on whether she should stand up or not. Her options felt like they were going a thousand miles an hour, and a new idea came into her head almost as quickly as it left. She could easily just walk out of the room and leave, but that would endanger everyone else.. Just like the one person she herself has endangered; Tom.

Something suddenly clicked in her mind; Ariel saying she saw something on the news about the Joker last night, and her getting a telephone call extremely late at night. It had to have been Gordon or the other police officers calling to tell her the Joker escaped. She cursed herself. Oh how she wished she had just picked up the damn phone!

She was taken away from her thoughts by the Joker's voice. She looked up and saw he had placed the walkie talkie back in his coat pocket. "Now, I intended on doing this later but....." He then muttered under his breath, but since he was by the microphone it was clearly heard. "Always resisting, making me have more fun." His chaotic laugh boomed in the microphone; making everyone shudder in their seats.

"Let's all play a game." He chanted. "Its called, if the kitties of this school walk out of this building they will be shot....and oh before you try it, the cell phone tower by this school has been....well lets just say it got.." he mimicked something exploding with his hands, "reconstructed." He grinned, "That has certainly tied up all the police forces around here. Far too busy to come join our sweet little _game-mah_."

Nichole looked around at students, seeing they were desperately trying to call 911, but failed; due to no service at all. She silently pulled out her own phone, but it had no bars._ "Damn he thinks of everything.." _She muttered.

A bunch of curse words and such were heard through out the audience. The Joker tapped his foot, looking at his watch-less wrist. "Well I guess if the lost does not wish to be found I might blow things out of proportion." With that, he opened his jacket, his thumb tugging lightly on a string which split out into branches of strings, tied to the trigger of various guns.

The room was once again filled with screams of terror. Some of the student girls started crying. People started to stand up in their seats, inching their way to the back doors. She stood up herself, hiding behind the fat kid.

"A ta-ta ta...if your going to play this game you have to follow some rules first...rule number one....There. Are. No. _Rules-sah_. **HA-HA-HA!"** He pulled the trigger, laughing, and the entire front row was shot, some in the head and others in the leg or arm.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. With that everyone started running and screaming the fuck out of that room. Nichole couldn't stay and face the Joker even if she wanted to, so she could stop him from hurting the innocent, because the sea of people dragged her along out into the hallway. She started to wonder though if this was the Joker's intention from the beginning; to create the aura of chaos at the school.

The sea of people headed in various directions, students and teachers alike were screaming, looking for somewhere to go. Nichole followed a large crowd headed for the front doors by the office. As soon as some people got outside they were hoarded down by guns that were not visible. This cause even more screaming and chaos as people desperately tried to get back inside the building. Nichole was about to be run over by a few students, so she stood up on a chair that was in the hallway meant for the teacher sitting watch of the door. She thought this was not a good idea, as if the Joker walked over here he could easily pick her out, but she rather not be trampled at the moment thank you very much.

She could see the gunmen in the bushes just outside the front door. Both in clown masks and just sitting there. They didn't shoot at anyone inside the building, but the people in the building didn't seem to understand that concept, and were running for their lives. Nichole knew the Joker enough to know he was a man of his word when it came to things like this, and her fear drained a bit knowing she wouldn't be shot right here.

The panic quickly came back as she realized the hallway was clearing out and people were running into classrooms to hide or try and find escape routes that do not involve doors._ The Joker could be coming down this hallway right now, and all I'm doing is standing here!_

Her face began to fill with emotion of the memories of her students at Gotham. They didn't have time to run for their lives; instead they were just crammed into the small classroom, just waiting their turn to be shot to death.

_No,_ Nichole thoughtto herself._ I will not be as helpless as I was back then, I will do what ever it takes to protect my students!_

She sprinted the opposite way of the auditorium, a direction she heard screaming and running, even though it was everywhere. She was now in the cafeteria. A bunch of students were in there, running, panicking in circles, crying and shouting in shock to figure out what to do. No other teachers were in the room, surprisingly. She bet they all fled for the teacher's lounge and locked it up tight. Damn those older teachers!

Nichole's eyes darted around the room, taking in every screaming teenager. She then noticed in a far corner Jesse huddling by Ariel. She rushed over to them, seeing Ariel on the ground crying holding her ankle.

"**ARIEL! JESSE!** What happened?!" She squatted by Ariel, noticing her ankle was a deep purple and twisted in a way an ankle was not meant to twist. "Oh my god..." was all Nichole could say.

Jesse spoke up. "When we were runnin' out of the hallway she got trampled, miss. People kept steppin' on her ankle and I noticed she was on the ground cryin' so I picked her up and brought her here. Please…do something… I don't want to die!" He had visible tears in his eyes, and was shaking. "He's scarier in person....I couldn't….. I couldn't breath when I saw 'im."

She leaned over and hugged Jesse and Ariel, coughing to hold in her tears. "Its okay....I'm gonna get us out of here. But listen...we can't stay here. We'll be like sitting ducks. If he comes in here it will be all over. We need to find a place to hide."

"But _m-m-miss_." Ariel spoke, her voice filled with her sobs. "There is n-no _p-p-place_ to hide...He'll check every- every classroom."

"I know a place, where no one would check" She lowered her voice, they brought there heads together, as if they were huddling in a football match. "In the first few days of teaching here, I was moving around stuff in my classroom. I found this small closet type door, around the size of a box behind a shelf. I thought it would look ugly so I kept it hidden behind there. Its small but you both could fit in there."

Jesse grabbed a hold of her arm. "No..W-what about you? Where will you go? And what about everyone else?" His eyes filled with horror, as well as his tears.

Nichole bit her lip. "Once you two are hidden, I will come back here and try to find more places to hide people. Listen, my room is a very far distance from here. Second floor on the other side of the building. We might need to take some detours to avoid..." She gulped, "..things. Come on we need to hurry."

"I can't walk!" Ariel said in a panic, she began to shake in fear.

Without a word, Nichole leaned down and scooped Ariel into her arms. Its not that Ariel was heavy, it was just that Nichole wasn't big into sports and working out so it hurt her arms a bit from the weight. But her determination would have to kick in to stop her from setting her down.

Jesse stuck close by them as they dashed out of the cafeteria and to the hallway. They took a left down a hallway that cut right down the middle of the school. At the end of it one of the four stairwells would be there, but as soon as they turned the corner, a large group of students were running towards them, and gun shots were coming from down the hallway. A few people dropped to the bloodstained ground as they got closer to the three.

"In here!" Nichole hissed, dashing into the main office. She scanned the room in a hurry and then ran around the secretary's desk. Nichole tried her best to not scream at the dead office ladies who had been shot and were all in their chairs slumped over. Jesse had seen them, but Ariel's face was being pushed into Nichole's shoulder so she could not, and thank lord because Ariel is very sensitive to gore and death, as evident by a movie on the civil war they watched in the beginning of the year. Ariel passed out and was taken to the nurse's office.

Jesse hunched in the corner under the desk, and Nichole placed Ariel in front of her. They were all forced to lay down under it, due to the small space. The desk was low enough so if anyone entered they would not see them, but high enough that the three could see people's feet walking around the room.

They heard the door open and a rush of screaming and scampering feet try to get to the other side of the office, to the other doorway to leave. Ariel was still shaking, Nichole rubbed her arm to comfort her. Three gunshots were fired making them all flinch at each one.

Suddenly, a dead student's body dropped to the floor right in front of the desk, on its side so the terrified face of the dead girl was staring blankly at Ariel, Jesse and Nichole. It took a moment to realize it was Jessica, a student of hers and good friends with Ariel. Ariel let out a scream, but it was cut short by Nichole ramming her hand over her mouth to muffle it, as the gun men was still in the room with them. Her whimper could be heard if the killer was focusing on any sounds, but the pair of feet left the room as quickly as they came. Nichole, who would not admit this to the two terrified teenagers, could tell just by the feet and pants, the gunman was **not** the Joker. This was a good thing, for now at least.

This whole time Nichole had to think of what to do once Ariel and Jesse were safe. Run off and find the Joker so she could save the remainder of people who were alive? It hit her then; everyone who was dead right now...it was her fault. The Joker wouldn't leave Gotham City and terrorize this town normally. It was because she was here. Sure saving two of her students would be a good thing, but what about everyone else? She cared about every one of her students, not just these two. And what happened to Clarissa and Kara? They must have gotten the hell out of the auditorium when he was on the stage.

After a few minutes, Nichole gave a hand sign for the two to stay there, while she poked her head up to see if it was safe. Sure enough the room was empty, except for a few bodies and a pool of blood. She re-picked up Ariel. Ariel purposely now hid her head in Nichole's shoulder, shaking, refusing to look at the war zone.

Jesse opened the office door and looked both ways in the hallway, before ushering Nichole to follow. They sprinted out and down the hallway they were originally taking before the detour stopped them. The hallways were littered with bodies and smeared blood, some people were still alive though, hit in the leg or arm. Some gripping their last moments of life. It broke Nichole's heart to run by all of them and not stop to help, but she couldn't risk it. The thing that really hit her hard was seeing a girl, who must have been hit in the chest, weakly writing on the wall in the blood of her peers… saying to herself "I love you Mom and dad." She wanted to shoot herself at that very moment.

They ran up the stairs, Nichole tripping twice over corpses. Jesse was visibly crying, but he tried to hold them back to show his strength. He would cough, sniff and hiccup every few steps. Even if the two teenagers did get out of this alive, they would never be the same. Just like Nichole. Nightmares and pain would be all they would feel.

Many people were running around on the second floor, in a panic. "They're coming!" One shouted and raced into the girl's bathroom. Sure enough a few moments later Nichole caught sight of three men in clown masks coming at them. "Hey there they are!" One of the men called, she guessed he had seen her.

She cringed at this move, but she darted into the girl's bathroom, pushing Jesse in, who had frozen in fear. Once a few more people came in, they slammed the door shut and pushed themselves into the door, as a bastion. About fifteen students plus Nichole were in here. Nichole looked back to see Clarissa was in here too, and her heart leapt with joy to see her friend was alright.

"Clarissa!" Nichole grunted, as the three men were pushing against the door to try and get in.

"Nichole! You okay?!" Clarissa's voice sounded hysterical.

"Jesse! I need you to put the lock on this door. Everyone give him a boast up! The lock is on the door hinge at the top!" She shouted, setting Ariel down on the opposite side of the bathroom, giving her a pat before returning to lean against the door.

By now Jesse was being hoisted up and was moving the bar on the top of the door to the side, locking the door up good and tight. Everyone slowly stopped leaning on the door, and sighed with relief as the three men were still pushing, but could not get in.

Everyone merged to the opposite side where Ariel was, backing up against the wall. Many were tending to wounds they had gotten, by pulling out toilet paper or paper towels and pressing them on their bleeding arms or legs. Unwounded friends were helping out.

"Nichole...this....this is madness." Clarissa had her hand on her heart, bawling her eyes out. "Kara....was...She didn't…. she didn't make it!"

"No..." Nichole said breathlessly. Her heart sunk out of her chest, and the chills swept over her. Before she could speak she was cut off by another student, who was by the bathroom door, pressing her ear against it to hear what was going on outside. She gasped, then came over to the group, flailing her arms about madly. "The men out there! They are getting a bomb to blow the door open! We gotta get outta here!"

"We can't get outta here! That's the only door!" one boy said. Everyone at this point started arguing or crying.

Clarissa shook Nichole's shoulder and pointed to the small window once she got her attention. "We are on the second floor!" Nichole hissed.

"We could tie our sweat shirts and anything we have together and climb down it. It will be risky in the courtyard since its in the middle of the school and surrounded by windows, but there are four doors down there back into the building, from there we could head to...I don't know… the teacher's lounge? I have the keys!" Clarissa spoke quickly.

"Alright everyone-" Nichole spoke, but most everyone was too hysterical to hear her. She tried speaking again but, again no one listened.

"EVERYONE QUIET!" Jesse screamed, and silence spread faster then the speed of light. "MISS HAS SOMETHING TO SAY!...Thank you." He rolled his eyes irritated.

"Thank you Jesse...Okay everyone we need you to give us your sweatshirts and tie them together. If you don't have sweat shirts and are wearing two shirts that will be fine. Meaning if you girls wear tank tops under your shirts, give us your shirts. I don't care that its winter outside. We are climbing down into the courtyard! Hurry!"

Like magic everyone worked together tying sweatshirts and shirts, and strangely enough a pair of pants (she wasn't going to ask) together tightly. Everyone was thankful a few of the boys in the bathroom had been boy scouts and knew how to tie a knot well.

They opened the small window and threw down the clothing made rope. They tied the end that was in the bathroom to a sink pipe. "Okay everyone one at a time out the window, once down there you have four doors you can go through. Try to stick together!"

The panicky students rushed to the window to be first, and those who were calm stayed a little toward the back. Nichole picked up Ariel. "Okay how am I going to do this?" She asked Clarissa.

Half the people were outside and climbing down now. Nichole peaked outside seeing students dashing through the courtyard and back into the building. Against her suggestion, many of them split up and went through different doorways. She face palmed, knowing what happens when people split up. Someone gets hurt.

Suddenly she heard a clicking noise by the doorway. She darted over, confirming what she thought it to be. She could see in the small space where the door meets the floor, a blinking red light. The bomb was armed and ready to explode. Wide eyed she rushed back to the window. "FASTER!" she screamed, losing her cool for that moment.

This is when everything went downhill. The five students who had yet to climb down starting screaming and clawing at each other to get outside and down the rope. One ended up pushing another girl down the rope. Nichole gasped, looking through the window, glad to see the girl caught herself on the rope and was not extremely harmed. Falling from two stories could definitely break a few ribs..

Clarissa pushed Nichole forward to the rope. "What are you doing?" Nichole asked. Jesse was making his way down the rope, voluntarily carrying Ariel down with him. He was a football player, therefore, he had the strength.

"Just go down. I'll go last. Hurry!"

Nichole did as she was told, and shakingly went down the rope. It was rather difficult and she feared that the knots would untie as she went down.

Jesse nicely waited for Nichole to get down, and once she was he sprinted towards the nearest door. She felt like the door was so far away even though it was close. Like a dream; when try as you might to run towards something it gets farther and farther away as you run.

A gunshot took her away from her dream thoughts. She reached the door pulling it open when she noticed Jesse wasn't next to her. She heard Ariel screaming at the top of her lungs, and looked back to see Jesse fall face first in the ground, his back spewing blood. He had been shot by someone who had been looking out the window into the courtyard.

"NOO! NOT JESSE! NOT JESSE!" Ariel kept screaming, clawing to Jesse's lifeless body, as Nichole darted over picking her up. She kicked with her good ankle and protested, finally giving in and gripping Nichole's arm crying.

Nichole raced around the building and up the stairs. Two more hallways and she'd be in her room. It felt like her legs and arms were going to give out and she was going to fall over gasping for air. She could barely even see where she was going, due to the tears blurring her vision.

Right now it was like Ariel was her child and Nichole was the mother trying to save her from a abusive father, or a burning fire. She had to save one person. Just one. She failed with Jesse, with everyone in her class. She had to save Ariel.

Then she saw it.

Her classroom door. The savior. The safe house.

She bound her way in, shutting the door hard behind her, with her hip. She placed Ariel in her chair, and rushed over to the shelf by it, pushing it out of the way. It was very hard for her to do though, since all her strength was just about spent and her adrenaline rush was pretty much over. She was training herself not to think about all those who were dead and think about the task at hand; shoving Ariel into the safe small closet, and then think of what to do with herself.

The shelf was pushed enough so she could open the small closet. As she did, she saw Ariel crawl out of the chair and over to it. Nichole helped her get into it. It was so tiny, that Ariel was forced to sit up in it, which caused her to be in intense pain, since she had to put some pressure on her ankle.

Nichole put a hand on Ariel's face. "You need to stop shaking...okay? If you don't, you will keep hitting your ankle on the ground and stir up a noise. It will be alright, understand? Wait until the police show up...Do not leave here okay?"

"Nichole I....Thank...you...so much. I love you Nichole. You're the best person in the world...." She sniffled.

"Don't say that Ariel..." Nichole sniffled as well, choking back her cries. Ariel must have thought it was because Nichole was happy to hear that statement, when really she was extremely depressed at that statement. Nichole was anything but the best person in the world. Everyone was dead, because of her. She could never live with herself after this.

"But Nichole I-" Ariel's sentence was cut off short, by gunshots in the hallway, and the sound of someone walking by the room.

Ariel and Nichole looked at each other in a panic state. "Get in there and don't move!" Nichole hissed, trying to shove the shelf back in front of the closet.

She heard the footsteps so close to the door, and then...a knock on the door. Nichole absolutely panicked, and stopped pushing on the shelf, not realizing it was not fully in front of the closet door. There was a small enough crack so Ariel could see outside and into the room. But thankfully no one would be able to see her, since it was very dark in the closet space.

Nichole ninja dived under her desk, huddling into a ball, drawing her knees up and leaning her chin on them. She mentally cringed at herself, as this was the worst spot in the history of hiding places to ever choose. It was so obvious and sort of in plain sight.

Her breathing stopped, as she heard her classroom door open. She could hear her heart beating in her ears as she heard the person casually strode into the room looking around. She didn't dare to peak out from under the desk. Nichole started to wonder if the person could hear her heart beating rapidly, because it was starting to hurt her ears. She knew this was not possible, as she did take anatomy in college, but it was just something that crossed her mind.

The person that was in the room, stopped somewhere in front of her desk. Suddenly, the person fired a gun at the window, shattering it. This caused her to jump in freight and hit the desk with her head.

She gasped silently at this, knowing very well there was a big chance the person heard her jump. The sound of her head banging on the metal desk kept playing and echoing in her head.

_No no no no no no .....just leave the room....leave the room....you didn't hear me....I'm not here....just leave the room....Go report to that monster that you couldn't find me.... _

As if on cue, the person in the room, she could hear walk over to the door and open it. After a few seconds she heard the sound of it closing as well, as if the person had looked around the room for a short period of time before deciding to leave.

She stayed as she was for five minutes, trying to play a relaxing song in her head repeatedly to calm her down. If she didn't do this her mind would be free to wander and think about the depressing state of affairs.

She finally got the courage to move, and slowly moved out from under the desk, just ever so lightly. She poked her head up a sliver from the desk, to check and see if she was free to move about the room.

Seeing no indication that the person was in the room, she sighed.

_Thank God…_

She started to craw her way out of the desk. Suddenly, a purple gloved gripped the back of her head, pulling her hair, yanking her head up.

"Missed me?" The Joker asked as he continued to pull her all the way out of the desk.

* * *

**Sydney:** _(grins evily)_ Dammit! I originally wanted Kait to put this and the next chapter in to one big long one, but due to the "epic-ness" of this chapter AND her love for cliffhangers. She would not listen to me! And dammit I am so excited for the next one!

**Kait:** Well i do love a good cliff hanger

**Joker: **And i do love it when you hang someone off a cliff!

**Kait:** So look at this everyone. A fan made a picture of the story for me, since I suck at drawing! Its fucking amazing! _H t t p : / / d e m o n I c – b l a c k – c a t . d e v I a n t a r t . c o m / a r t / E y e – c a n d y – 1 1 0 5 1 2 2 6 2 _(delete the spaces again!)

**Joker:** Well see now Kait! At least SOMEONE has talent.

**Kait:** ...._(slits her wrists and goes emo)_

**Sydney:** _(grabs a bunch of tourniquets, and smacks Kait in the head)_ No! you can't die dammit! We have to finish the next two chapters!


	33. A Mad Dog Let Loose

**Kait:** Everyone SWIM TEAM IS OVER! So that means I can have a life again, and thus I can type more now and get updates in faster. _(cue clapping here)_

**Joker:** _(rolls his eyes)_ Great now I have to see more of you two. Once a week is bad enough.

**Sydney:**Oh come on! you love us! Anyway Kait and I are SO happy that we got this chapter out! The next one will be kick ass as well

**Kait:** Fuck yes!

**Syd:**Hahahah yes_ (gives thumbs up)_ So parts of this chapter and the entire next one is practically based on the dream I mentioned last time

**Joker:**_(gives a dirty smile)_ Now that I think about it... I actually do remember certain... parts.. of that dream of yours_ (wiggles eyebrows)_ Like the sight of you-

**Syd:**KAIT! Help me please!

**Kait:** ....Hey hey hey I had to deal with him spreading my dream with him the other day!_(hides in corner)

* * *

_Nichole grunted as she struggled against the Joker's grip on the back of her head. It felt as if he was trying to tear her hair out as he pulled her from under the desk. Her hands reached up and she clawed at his arm with her fingernails; which did little affect due to his trench coats sleeve.

Laughing maniacally, he got off of the teacher's desk (that he was unknowingly sitting on for the past five minutes, trying to hold in his laughter waiting for Nichole to think she was safe) and tugged Nichole up after him. She yelped in pain as her lower back hit the edge of the desk with such severe force that sent tingles down her spine. As her struggling enervated, due to her tingling spine, the Joker effortlessly pulled her off of the desk. Pencils, calculators, and picture frames flew in disarray as Nichole slid over her desk, by the Joker's grip on her hair.

He casually stepped to the side as Nichole nearly fell to the ground. He pulled her up with his strong hand by the back of her neck and cocked her head at his direction. He was always penchant to make her suffer. Luckily Nichole was being pulled up in a fashion in which her face was turned away from him. She still hadn't gotten a good look at him; just the blur of his purple suit. She cringed shutting her eyes; she did not want to look at him. She knew she would break down in tears if she did.

She finally shoved him away from her and made a dash for the door. She only ran a few feet before she felt the Joker grab the back of her collar and pull her back to him. Her breath was caught in her throat as she choked for a short period of time while he was pulling her back to him. She turned and instantly regretted it, for the next thing she saw was a purple fist heading toward her face.

Stars literally formed right before her, and her body stopped responding. She veered to the left and soon saw the floor heading toward her face with gaining speed. She was saved, if that's what you want to call it, by the Joker forming a bone crushing grip on her right arm. His gloved thumb pressed tightly into the tender skin of the inside of her elbow. He swung back and she felt his other hand over the front of her neck as he slammed her into the wall, in propinquity to the front board.

It felt like she had died right then and there. All the pain she felt vanish as she stared into his two dark dangerous eyes once more. The dead feeling she felt inside made her numb. He exhaled deeply, sending warm breath onto her face, which was getting paler by the second. The Joker's makeup was smudged, and his scars looked uglier than ever so close up. She couldn't breathe, her muscles stopped working and she stayed very still, a hand on his gloved one that was wrapped around her neck, to try and stop him if he was going to choke her.

"Why hello my little Nichole....aren't you happy to see me?" He cocked his head like a dog. He was as evil and terrifying as ever. "I must tell you this little fight you put up…was quite the greeting, for not seeing me in oh...what...." He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth as if trying to think. "Six months?"

Nichole said nothing, and bit down hard on the inside of her mouth to keep herself composed and her face from showing any emotion. She would not give him the pleasure of seeing how scared she was.

He stared into her eyes for a few moments, which had tears forming at the brim. She mentally cursed herself for her weakness.

He grew impatient, so he spoke again. "Not talking? But Nikki...MY Nikki, you don't know how long I have waited for this. All that time in Arkam… waiting for the opportune moment to escape… all that time thinking of what to do once I left that nut house. I made a list." He reached into his pocket, with the hand that wasn't on her neck and pulled out a small piece of paper. The Joker regarded what was on it, before looking back at Nichole, grinning. She involuntarily twitched at him. "And your name Nichole was my number one priority." He laughed, shoving the crumpled paper back in his jacket.

"After all....had you not had Gordon on your side at the time....maybe just maybe I wouldn't have had to be locked up all those days. Though I must admit it was quiet relaxing to take a break from my chaos. I got the time to plan, and prepare things. Now I'm all set for the next five years....and as you know less planning, which takes up quiet some time....means more time for my _fa-vor-rite_person in the world." He laughed spastically, leaning his face closer towards her.

"You have no idea....how much....I...._missed you_." He spoke that last line very slowly and in a very husky tone of voice, filled with desire and lust. A danger, that would soon come crashing down on her.

Nichole was just about to try to kick him where it would hurt, when a sound made both of them turn their heads to the left in unison. It was a small cry, not of fear, but pain coming from behind the shelf near them.

Nichole's mouth shot open, as she realized it was Ariel. She must have banged her ankle on the floor by accident and caused it to be in pain. The Joker looked back at Nichole's fearful face and then grinned, figuring out a "guest" was in the room.

He reached in his coat pocket pulling out a gun (just how much did he store in his coat?), and to Nichole's shock, he pointed it at her; the hand on her neck releasing its iron grip. He used the gun to usher Nichole to move the shelf. She immediately shook her head. There was no way she would lead Ariel to her death. She did not want to become a part of his complicity.

He unlocked the safety and pointed it closer to her, looking furious. "What was that?" He growled.

She flinched at the feeling of the cold metal barrel being pressed on her left cheek. She shook her head frenetically, bumping her cheek numerous times against the gun.

"Please…" It was quieter than a breath. She choked, tears blurring her vision of the Joker's sadistic smile.

The Joker cocked his eyebrow and made a clicking noise with his tongue. They eyed each other for a while; the Joker's fierce eyes borrowing into Nichole's pleading ones. Then, out of nowhere, he spontaneously shoved his gun into her cheek roughly before he swiftly pulled it away and aimed at the closet, shooting the top corner of it with a loud bang.

"No!" Nichole screamed and started to struggle, racking his arm with her hands. His grip tightened on her neck, causing her to gasp for air.

Clear, evident sobbing was now heard from the shelf.

The Joker loosened his grip before he looked at Nichole again, eliciting a smile. Nichole lightly touched his arm before he could fire another deadly shot into the middle of the shelf; she knew what she had to do.

She slowly made her way to the shelf, trying her best not to break down into a fit of heaving sobs. She knew that if she didn't do what he wanted, he would surely starting shooting up the shelf with poor Ariel in it. She pushed the shelf to the side, and kneeled down to fully open the small closet like door that was there.

Inside was Ariel, frightened out of her mind, continuously shaking, as she looked past Nichole and at the Joker. Nichole's tears merged at the sight of her. Her breathing became intermittent. Nichole scooped up Ariel gently, like a mother would, and Ariel's arms flew around the back of Nichole's neck hugging her. Nichole sniffled, and carried her fully into the room, placing her down by the now messy teacher desk, to allow Ariel to lean on it to ease the pain of her ankle. This whole time Ariel did not take her eye off of the Joker, and he did not either. He narrowed his eyes and stood open mouthed, hiding his amusement.

"Nichole I didn't know you were so good with kids." He chimed, licking his lips; still holding the gun tightly in his hand, raised up a little pointing at Nichole's and Ariel's knee caps.

Nichole finally mustered up all her courage now that Ariel's life was on the line.

"Leave her alone....she has nothing to do with this." Nichole spoke firmly, trying her best to sound as if she was in a business deal with the Joker and not bartering a person's life.

He clapped his hands together. "Finally IT speaks! That's the first thing you've said to me in six months… and it had to be that? I was thinking more along the lines of, Hello master...." He snickered, then suddenly glares at Nichole eyeing her face more closely.

Ariel, who stood still leaning on the desk, now looked up, confused. "You… You know him?" Nichole heard Ariel say under her breath to her.

"It's not polite to mumble." The Joker stated, laughing as he raised the gun up aimed at Ariel's head.

"No!"

Nichole dashed forward and grabbed onto the hand that held the gun making it swerve to the left, as he shot. It narrowly missed Ariel, who let out a scream of pure terror as the loud gunshot wailed into her ears. Nichole and the Joker fought each other for the gun. Finally, Nichole got fed up and knocked the gun out of his hand before her left foot shot up and kicked the gun, sending it at a surprisingly fast speed out of his hands, across the room, and out the window.

They both stood, almost side by side, looking at where the gun flew out the window. Nichole felt a triumphant wave sweep over her. So they wouldn't be killed by the gun....that was good for now. But who knows, for all she knew he could have another gun in that large jacket of his.

"Yanno, if you never met me, you might have had a career in the fighting department..." The Joker said, right before the anger of realizing he was now gun less struck him.

Nichole scurried over to Ariel, taking her hand and staring her dead in the eye. "Get out of here. Get out of here now." She said frantically.

Ariel was in too much shock to respond, she had one poor plucked eyebrow raised in confusion but her eyes held terror. "You know him Nichole..... You know him.." She said as more of a fact, then a question.

Before Nichole could answer and explain the situation, the Joker came up close to her and grabbed the back of her neck, pulling her face close to him. She felt his warm breath on her face and froze in her spot. She didn't even bother to try to struggle.

"What's this?" He asked calmly arching a brow at her and cocking his head, looking directly at her right cheek. "You do know I take it as an insult that you are hiding your _mark-kuh_. MY mark…. the thing that shows the world...that you belong to, uh....me."

It took her a moment to figure out what he was talking about and when she did it was too late. His hand came on her right cheek and began to scratch at the makeup and fake skin layer she had plastered on her face. He roughly peeled it off to expose the medium sized "J" carved onto her cheek.

He quickly took off one glove and slowly, even to be quite honest, gently, ran two fingers across her jagged scar. The oddest thing happened at this moment. A voice in her head, sighed happily responding to his soft touch. She made a confused face at that, but it must have came out as a terrified face, for the Joker was grinning widely at her flashing his yellow teeth, thinking she was scared of him; which she was, but the fact she heard herself as Candy sigh happily in her mind was starting to get annoying.

"_Beeaaaa-uuuu-tiifuul"_ He smiled putting his glove back on. "Just beautiful… and why, my dear were you trying to hide it? You should be thankful not many people that get those, live to show it off. It's a symbol of ownership." He eyed Ariel who was on the ground crying at this point, and then hatched an idea. "Maybe....if you had shown this symbol to your students....they would not be in this_mess-sah_. Just maybe… they wouldn't be so close to you that they would have their lives endangered right now. They would stay away from you, and therefore you would not have been able to "help" them. You would have just come straight to me from the start to accept your punishment for being a naughty naughty woman. Keeping me waiting for six months! I am not a patient man...but you....you are worth it." He laughed.

"Besides...I do like what you did. The fact you didn't come up when I called you at the assembly was genius. I didn't know you were going to do that, but I was pleased you allowed me to spread chaos in this school. It was so much...fun. I regret you didn't get to join in on it till the very end."

The Joker took Nichole and spun her around so she could face Ariel. Ariel looked up at her teacher and gasped, seeing the carved J on her face.

"So....little girl did you know your teacher was owned and works for yours truly…_hmmmm_?" He laughed, roughly pushing Nichole forward to the ground. She landed in front of Ariel, on all fours, her hands stinging from breaking her fall.

"Wha....What...Why Nichole?" Ariel stuttered on her tears. "You can't work for the Joker! You can't be!" Ariel's voice rose as she spoke, the anger starting to slowly come out.

"Ariel it isn't like that-" Nichole started, but was cut off by Ariel yelling:

"I trusted you! I told you even today about my nightmares about him, and I really felt like you understood me! But now I come to find you WORK for him? You were just laughing the whole time at me weren't you? You were laughing, and waiting for him to come to this school and kill us all! I opened up to you. EVERYONE DID! Everyone told you everything about themselves. We thought you were the coolest teacher ever, like you cared about us! Heck! You were better than most of our parents!"

The Joker leaned on the student desk behind him crossing his arms, amused. This was working out too perfectly. Nichole stared silently in horror at Ariel's accusations. "Ariel I-"

"But you didn't care about us..." she hiccupped "...did you?... You hated us all and probably were so happy when this day came so you could go on with your life of crime with the Joker."

She then gasped in horror as another "realization" came over her:

"You...you're Candy…. aren't you. They talked about you in the newspaper, as the Joker's assistant. It made headlines, cause normally he kills his henchmen, but you he kept. You were in a costume as well! YOU MAKE ME SICK! Jesse was killed and it's your entire fault! If you never came here we would all be fine! We all would be alive and in class, bored, but in class! I fucking hate you; you bitch! BURN IN FUCKING HELL! YOU AND THE JOKER WORKING TOGETHER!? What the-...." Ariel was out of breath, as she had been screaming this entire thing.

The only truth about what Ariel said that stung Nichole was the fact that, yes if she had not been at this school they all would be safe and alive. Their deaths **were** her fault.

Ariel looked at the Joker, and Nichole did as well, looking behind her at his amused face. "Oh don't mind me ladies, I'm enjoying the show here." He mused.

Nichole glared tearfully and turned back to Ariel, sitting up on her knees. "Ariel p-please" she took a gulp of air "...you have to understand. I didn't want this to happen. I DO care about you guys. You were all my best friends; I love you all! Please..." she begged.

"He was the cause of my nightmare too Ariel. If you only knew what he did the night he-" She tried to reach for Ariel, but The Joker got behind Nichole, and pulled her to her feet by her hair, which was still throbbing in pain. He spun her around, so she was in front of him. He did a forty five degree turn to make sure that both he and Nichole's side were facing Ariel, so she could get a view of their profiles. He had another idea and he wanted to make sure Ariel got front row seats to the show.

"I don't care what he did to you! I confided in you and this is how the pieces fall? THAT'S why you didn't want to talk about him in our class...or hell ever! Because you were working for him! You didn't want to give off that you knew too much about him! You fucking devious bitch!" Ariel screamed, curling up into a ball, her head leaning on the desk beside her glaring at the two. Her body was shaking in rage.

That hit the nail on the head. The final straw. The tears that lined her eyes fell down, and they fell fast. Her breathing picked up and could be easily heard as she sobbed. "Oh god why." She cried out.

The Joker grabbed a hold with one hand Nichole's wrist, and the other was wrapped around her waist, pulling her to him, turning her around so she would face him. She felt his chest pushing into hers and vibrating with laughter. A look of pure disgust wiped itself on her face as she tried to thrash her way out of his grip. "Oh ho ho, Nichole stop this right now." The Joker said grinning down at her trapped in his grip.

But she did not stop. She tried to back up, but his iron grip on her waist would not budge. It felt like he got stronger than he was the last time Nichole was around him. Had he worked out in Arkam?

"Nichole." He laughed. She grunted and kept trying to push him away. "Hey, hey! Stop struggling… there will be time for that later." He slowly ran a hand up her back and rubbed the back of her head, messing with her hair.

…_This cannot be happening_…

Ariel's eyes went wide. "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! You and him…" She couldn't finish it. The anger in Ariel's face, which had disappeared a few moments ago, was now replaced with pure disgust.

Nichole turned her head to Ariel and before she could protest to Ariel and explain, the Joker tightened his grip on the back of her head and forced her to face him. The hand on her back let go, and Nichole was able to move everything neck down off of the Joker, and create a bit of space between them, but she could not escape his grasp on her neck, again he had definitely gotten stronger, or she had gotten extremely weaker. Either were possible.

It all happened so suddenly, she hardly had time to blink. The Joker took his free hand and lowered it, to the bottom of her shirt, slowly reaching up it with his whole hand, letting it glide over her stomach. As his hand got higher the shirt got caught on his glove and moved up as his hand continued, exposing the pale skin of her stomach.

Ariel gasped, along with Nichole, but to Ariel's eardrums it sounded more like a happy sigh or moan. At this moment Ariel's mind was onnly showing and letting hear what she wanted to hear; and right now Ariel strongly believed Nichole was in love with the Joker.

"Oh she's quiet the devil in the _sack-kuh_. I have lost count of the number of times she has given herself to me." He licked his lips. "Sometimes she plays struggles, which means more fun for me. She really knows how to satisfy me." The Joker lied, as his hand reached the bottom of her breast, snaking its way up to squeeze a hold of its fleshy mound. Her shirt bunched up below his glove, whereas parts of her green bra began to show.

Nichole's cries got louder in embarrassment. She was still so much in a daze that her struggles enervated. She only gripped his right bicep that was squeezing her breast painfully while her other hand weakly pushed against his left shoulder. The Joker stopped paying attention to Ariel and was now focused on roughly fondeling Nichole's breasts. His hips coming closer to her in a sort of grinding type motion. Nichole could feel the bitter sense of his hardness against her abdomen. His mouth lay open ever so slightly as he pressed the side of his face into the side of Nichole's face; as Nichole had her face turned so she was looking at Ariel. Her eyes scrunched shut as she whimpered in pain as the Joker painfully twisted and pinched her left nipple through her bra.

"Ariel, please listen to m-m-me! I don't like him!" She screamed in her sob. She was embarrassed beyond all belief. Her face reddened as she heard the Joker's heavy breaths right into her right ear. She hated this in every single way as he, was _clearly_ enjoying this. He let out a soft dangerous moan in her ear; causing her to shutter.

She groaned as he twisted and squeezed harder. The Joker let out a shaky smile, knowing how Ariel will take her sound.

"YEAH! It looks like you don't like him.....You fucking love him!" Ariel screamed back gripping the side of the desk, to allow herself to stand up.

Nichole shifted herself to lean more towards Ariel, trying to shove back the arm whose hand was molesting her so she try to move out towards Ariel. But the Joker moved the hand that was originally holding her to him by the neck, downwards towards her bottom, grasping and groping at it in an animal like fashion. He moved her forward so her bottom half was more against him. He had been alone in a cell for six months; he was a hyper dog out of the cage, with fresh meat placed in front of him.

"Ariel he is tricking you!" Her pitiful struggling was futile, but she never did cease. "He's lying to you! We hate each other! I hate him!"

"And how do I know you're not lying?! You've lied to us all this year! What makes now any different!"

The two were screaming at each other, trying to get the other one to listen to them; their crying made it difficult to understand. And all this time the Joker was molesting his little toy, his eye candy, having a very good time if he does say so himself. He truly missed the company of a woman; but not just any women. His Nichole. It was fun to see what he had caused her to become. A scared out of her wits young women whose closest friends, were her students; younger less intelligentbeings. They were the only ones she could open up to, and unfortunately for her they also were very naive.

Ariel believed everything he had not expected her to believe. How the world can trust the powerful, so easily. After all he caused everyone's deaths, and Ariel had just met him, while she had known her teachers for a long time now and yet she believed the one who had the power and held the gun. Well metaphorically speaking at the moment, as Nichole did drop kick his gun out the window.

Nichole couldn't take it anymore... Not that she could in the first place. "GET OFF ME!" She used this moment, while his grip on her wasn't as strong to bring her knee up to hit him where it hurts. She hit the target as the Joker backed up and fell forward gripping his manhood to ease the pain. She dashed back towards Ariel, grabbing onto her hand. "We have to go NOW!" She bent down to pick up Ariel to carry her out.

But Ariel did something that caused her to gasp. Ariel slapped Nichole across the face… hard. "Don't touch me!" she yelled, and spat in Nichole's face.

Nichole, taken aback took a few steps backwards wiping the saliva running down her nose, her mouth hung open.

The Joker, who just recovered a blow at his manhood, saw what happened, and stopped what he was doing; which was going to bang Nichole up against the wall and teach her a lesson about attacking her owner. But all thoughts of that vanished as his beady eyes turned and glared at Ariel, licking his lips as he stood up straight.

He walked forward pushing Nichole to the side roughly, "No one...Is allowed to....hit _MY_ property...but me...No one is even allowed to lay a finger on what's mine without permission, and I believe you did not _ask-kah."_

Nichole had landed up against a student desk, wiping away the last of the spit and her tears. She tried to move back towards the two, but she could not move, and at first she did not know why. But then she focused on the voice in her head, which was now speaking again.

Candy's voice chimed out in a soft velvety manner. _Let him do what he is going to do Nichole. Don't interrupt. He's fighting on your behalf, and standing up for you. Let him be the man and you sit on down and be the innocent women. _Candy then laughed, softly; clearly amused by what was happening.

Nichole tried even harder now to move forward, but one of her hands was involuntarily gripping the desktop holding her back. She could only cry out to Ariel, but every other part of her body would not move.

Ariel desperately was now limping away from the Joker, groaning each time she limped forward in pain. She tried to limp towards the door, but he casually walked over blocking it. He moved in on her, but she limped again this time away from the door to the opposite side of the classroom, near the windows.

She was going to try and escape via the doors in the classroom that are connected to the other classrooms to either side of it, but the Joker moved over to her so fastly that Ariel tripped over the foot of the desk. She yelped as she tried to crawl away from the Joker.

The Joker, taking advantage of her state, slammed his foot down on her broken ankle.

Ariel's scream of pure agony smacked Nichole's face like a whip. Ariel screamed so loud, falling to the ground in pain, trying to hold on her leg to lessen the pain, but it was no use. It felt like he was trying to detach her ankle from her body completely.

The Joker then bent down and picked up Ariel by her hair (Nichole thought the Joker must love doing this as it is the spot that would cause the most pain to be picked up in women), and slowly made his way to the window, with Ariel limping and screaming at him, with the broken glass, peering down into the courtyard it overlooked.

"DON'T!" Nichole screamed. She fought with her hand and wrestled it off the desk, running over to where the Joker stood. She stopped a few feet in front of him. She knew that if went went closer he would surely throw her out the window without another word. His other arm was now wrapped around her neck as he leaned about of the window, glancing back at Nichole, smiling.

Ariel had one hand by the root of her hair, to stop the intense pressure it was under, and the other trying to reach for a ledge or something by the window. When Nichole saw Ariel's facial expression, she had a flash back of many times she had been in pure terror with the Joker. Had she looked just as Ariel does now? What was pleasing about that fear to him?0

"Don't do it!" Nichole pleaded. "Please I'll do anything!" And by anything she did mean anything.

The Joker shook his head. "When I first saw her come out of the closet I told myself I was going to kill her. I tried to kill her with my gun. But sadly my gun is out the window down there." He tilted his head down. Nichole guessed that the gun was in clear sight from his view.

"Think of it this way. I was going to hit you with my gun." He smiled at Ariel, who's tear stained face sobbed more as he spoke. "But since that didn't happen, I am going to hit my gun..." He motioned at the gun on the ground again. "…with you!" He started to laugh as he flung Ariel out the window in a carefree manner. Her leg with the broken ankle smacked against the ledge before the rest of her body toppled over.

Ariel's screams of bloody murder was followed by a loud smack of her hitting the ground and then silence.

**"NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!"**

Nichole rushed to the window, pushing the Joker out of the way. "NO ARIEL!" Her body lay motionless on the ground, sure enough she had landed on top of the gun. One of her arms was bent in a manner not natural. "Oh god. Oh god." Nichole sunk where she stood, falling on the shelf that lined the windows on the wall. She hide her face in the metal surface and her arms dangled down, her hands barely hitting the floor.

The Joker finished his laughing fit, and grabbed Nichole by her hair (again), and yanked her back. She was in too much shock of seeing Ariel there cold and still to do anything. She let out a yelp, but that was all; she didn't even bring her hands up on her hair roots to relieve the pressure.

He cocked a head at her and then rolled his eyes sighing. "Time for our fun to go to a more appropriate setting." He grinned, originally intending to drag her out by her hair, expecting her to scream and fuss to his delight, but since she was in the stoic state of mind, he scooped her up and carried her out of the classroom. She stared at her hands, which were folded on her lap blankly. If she looked up she knew she'd see the blood and guts spread about on the orange lockers and off white and black tiles on the ground.

They went down the stairs, Nichole regrettably having to cling to the Joker's jacket, to keep herself from slipping out of his hold on her, which was one hand wrapped around her legs, and the other behind her back and resting on her shoulder.

They made their way to the front hall, the Joker nodding to one of his henchmen that stood nearby the main door. Nichole heard that henchmen mumble something into a phone. The Joker walked over to the few seats that were in the front hall, and placed Nichole in one calmly. It surprised her that he wasn't angery at her at the moment, but she guessed once he took her, to....whereever he was going to take her, his anger would come out like a mad bull in a china shop.

He sat in the one next to her; Nichole would have been extremely happy that an armrest and leather separated him from her, but her indifferent, drained state of mind prevented her from seeing anything. He sat his hands on both arm rests, impatiently bouncing up and down slightly, peering left and right waiting for whatever was going to happen to happen.

Nichole sat there in silence, staring again at her hands on her lap, hunched over slightly, and keeping the tears at bay. Right now she was an emotionless being. Therefore the Joker couldn't have "fun" with tormenting her.

A few seconds later footsteps were heard and the Joker stood up, standing by his seat. Nichole permitted herself to look up and she saw around ten or twelve henchmen come into the room, chatting with each other. Some had patches of blood on them, and others had discarded their clown masks, holding them in the hand opposite the gun hand.

"So you found 'er eh boss?" One spoke as he got closer.

"Yes our little prize was hidden deep in here." He glanced at her with glaring eyes.

"Boss let me tell yah I swear ta god I saw her once, but she went and hid in the bathroom, and we's tried tah open the door, but they had been little devious bitches and snuck out the window using shirts or some shit. Fucking clever ass bitch-" But the henchman was cut short, by a bullet shooting him in the head.

The Joker had grabbed someone else's gun and shot the man. He turned towards the rest of the men who were all in shock by this act, but tried to show no fear.

"If anyone else has anything to say about her, please...speak now." He grinned licking his lips.

No one spoke at all. The only thing that could be heard was Nichole's breathing beginning to pick up, since a bit of the man who had been shot's brain had landed on her boot. She gulped, swallowing the stomach acid that had risen and wiped her shoe on the chair's side, unnoticed by the others.

"Now. We are heading back. Our work here is done. Are you going to walk now princess or do you need your prince to carry you again?" the Joker asked Nichole winking maliciously.

She stood up and followed close behind the Joker, awaiting what would happen once they entered the dirty white van parked in front of the school.

* * *

**Kait:** This chapter's ideas are all made by my wonderful and brilliant beta reader for this story Sydney! Let's hand it to her for this epicness! _(claps)_

**Sydney:** _(sniffles, and bows)_ Thank you Kait!

**Joker:**_(claps, not enthusiastically. Kait notices and smack him. He then would put a fake smile on anf clap).. _Oh man, I love all the fun things I was able to do for once in this story! _(turns to Kait and then Syd, then smiles evilly)_ … You still left out the other part from that dream..

**Sydney:** _(stops bowing and cocks an eye at the Joker)_ I still can't believe you were actually in my dream! _(shudders)_ But hey! It will be a continuation in the next few chapters!

**Kait:** So I have decided something. Fan art, links haven't really been working when I post them here, since you have to separate spaces and such so I have an idea. What I am going to do is, if you send me fan art I will post it on my profile and when new art is in I will put something at the bottom of the author's note saying "New Fan Art In Profile". For those of you who don't know how to get to my profile, just click my user name Joker-Is-Sexy. At the bottom of my profile info will be click able links! See I am a genius! Now go check out the new art I got from "Kuro-vortex92"

***New Fan Art In Profile.**


	34. Bestial Intentions

**Kait:** I really need to buy a watch. Cause time seems to just fly by. But hey next week is my vacation so I am free to type all that time and get ahead of schedule.

**Joker:** _(rolls his eyes)_ You are just saying that, on the vacation I bet you are gonna not type at all, and if you do it will be on the last day.

**Kait:**Psh psh...psh I- _(thinks about what he says and realizes it most likely is true and blushes)_

**Syd:** _(sighs)_Sadly, Kait, I am going to have to agree with the Joker on this one. It is COMPLETELY true! But I still love you and I'm glad that you FINALLY got this done!

**Kait: **By the way me and syd are starting something you all should look into. Its called the "Eye Candy Soundtrack!" Songs that we feel fit perfectly with this story. I noticed i kinda went for the sad songs and Syd went for the chaos ones. More will be posted along the way. Give them a listen and think of the story folks!

**Songs That Fit Eye Candy:**

Kait's Choices:  
-**All These Things That I've Done by The Killers **_Its just so sad and depressing. Describing how Nichole feels like she is alone in the world and no one can save her. And honestly that is the truth.  
_**-Love Me Dead by Ludo **_This song is so twisted and does not make sense at all. Its screams the Joker and Nichole's relationship all the way.  
_**-Savin' Me by Nickelback **_This should be Nichole's total theme song haha.  
_**-Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol**_ Sue me but this also screams Joker and Nichole's relationship. Its like the world focuses on the two of them and no one else matters. I am a softy for that.  
_**-Disturbia by Rihanna**_ Do i even have to explain why?  
_**-Because Of You by Kelly Clarkson**_ Poor Nichole trying to cope with life  
_  
Syd's Choices:  
**-Scream, by Avenged Sevenfold.** _This was THE FIRST song that came to mind when I began reading this story! I feel that the lyrics fit perfectly to the Joker's charasmatic personality  
_**-Meltdown, by Clint Mansell.**_This song has no lyrics but Clint Mansell is one of my all time favorite composers! This song just fits perfectly into the theme of chaos the Joker brings. For somereason, this song came into my head in the chapter where the Joker first rapes her. It describes what is going on in Nichole's mind  
_**-Chop Suey by System of a Down**_. The beginning lyrics relate to Nichole trying to put on a facade that everything is alright and she is litterally "hiding the scares" Also the music just fits with the realm of chaos and dissaray. I'm sure you can find outher connections to it with the story ;]  
_**-Sound Effects and Overdramatics, by The Used.**_Again, pure realm of chaos. This is either Nichole's or the Joker's POV. I see it either way.  
_**-Little House, by The Fray **_No explanation  
_**-Idioteque, by Radiohead** _This music played in the back of my head the second time the Joker raped Nichole (wow, i am fucking depressing) and it kinda reminds me of Nichole's mind at that time where she is trying to escape into her own head so she doesnt beleive that this is really happening to her. Again, this song also kinda (in an odd way) fits with the Joker as well because its chaotic and all of the thoughts in this song converge to make no sense =]  
_

* * *

Gordon pulled up to Lakeview's high school furiously, mounting the curb as other cruisers from Gotham were crowding the entrance.

He slammed his door harshly as he got out and rushed inside the building. Bile almost escaped from his mouth when he entered. Dead bodies littered the floors, blood was everywhere. He felt tears well up in his crystal blue eyes.

He could deal with blood, but when it is the blood of the youth and the innocent his heart would tear apart.

He saw the police chief of Lakeview talking to other officers who were writing down notes. The officer noticed Gordon and beckoned him over.

"What…. what the h-hell happened here?" Gordon asked, his eyes firing in rage.

"The Joker. The few who survived can tell us the whole story once they are in a stable condition at the hospital." The officer's voice was strained as she tried to hide her sadness. "I am police chief Brenda Smith, and you are Jim Gordon correct?" She eyed his outfit head to toe, taking in his uniform.

"Yes." Gordon placed one hand on his forehead. "How many?"

Brenda bit her lip. "We haven't gotten the exact amount, but its well over four hundred dead."

Gordon scowled, kicking at a empty soda can on the ground to release his anger.

"SON OF A BITCH! The day after he escapes he does this?!"

"Gordon, why would he come here? I thought he was...well I thought he was intending to corrupt Gotham first and forehand. Why would he release his revenge on a school that has nothing to do with Gotham and has no one he knows in it?" Brenda took a hand out of her pocket, retrieving a handkerchief and placing by her nose; the blood was starting to give off an odor.

Gordon swallowed, his face paling.

"That....I have no idea about." He lied. He knew perfectly well the Joker came here for Nichole. He had to think of something quick, as he realized that Nichole was most likely back in the Joker's hands, so they would wonder where she was when they count the survivors and the dead.

* * *

It felt as if it really was eight months ago, the first time she had been in an old beat up van sitting next to the Joker, frightened. Eight months ago she thought of ways to be able to convince him to let her go, the first night he kidnapped her. She also remembered that she tried to figure out what he wanted with her; only this time she knew what he wanted and she knew escape was very unlikely now a days. Nichole gleaned that his anger towards her for causing him to go to Arkam, had not fully come out yet.

His wrath would rain down on her as soon as they were alone.

She sat very still in the back seat, staring blankly at the headboard of the driver's seat in front of her. The van was crowded with all of the Joker's men and the Joker himself of course. He was seated next to her in the middle seat, and from the looks on the other men's faces it wasn't somewhere he normally sat; as they all looked very uncomfortable near him like that, especially the man seated to the right of him.

Silence was only heard between the Joker and Nichole the entire car ride. The Joker didn't even try to make any physical contact with her. At first, he thought of ways to press her buttons again, to make her so uncomfortable and ashamed that she would break. But he knew from one glance at Nichole's empty face staring at her hands that no emotions would come out of her.

Not yet at least.

It took about a half hour to make it back into Gotham city; due to traffic caused by a power hub explosion a few minutes from the school. When they passed by it the Joker laughed, nudging the man next to him, "I must thank you for those explosions, had they not been so big we might have had some officers at the school earlier, as our little prize was quite the stealth. Playing a game of cat and mouse takes up a lot of time." He eyed Nichole. She still remained an emotionless corpse with her lips tightly sealed.

_They are all dead…. All dead.. _She thought to herself flatly.

She was dazed about everything that happened to her in the past eight months. All the ones she loved murdered. Just when she thought she could forget about all of it and put the past behind her, the past comes back and bites her in the butt.

The Joker sighed leaning back in his seat, resting his arm on the backboards of the seats. Nichole tried to, as unnoticeable as possible, lean slightly forward, so the Joker wouldn't wrap his arm around her shoulder or any nonsense like that.

Once in Gotham, the van twisted and sped down streets Nichole barely recognized. She glanced out the window at the city she had left behind. All over were signs and wanted posters, stating the Joker had escaped from Arkam and was on the loose. There was also something different about Gotham. People seemed more jumpy and tended to look over their shoulders every so often. She knew it had to be because the Joker was now a bigger threat than ever. People knew what he could do.

And now he was out of the cage waiting to attack.

The city was returning to the dark era it thought it had locked away forever in a place called Arkam.

The van pulled into the parking lot of what appeared to be a large abandoned warehouse. A few vans were parked in the lot as well. A single light was over the side door, which would flicker every so often.

"As you can see we upgraded from where we used to live." the Joker stated, in Nichole's direction as the van came to a stop.

The men hurried out of the van, Nichole, not bothering to stand up, sat there with her fixed dull expression on her face. The Joker got out before her, and stood by the open door, growling. "Giving me the uh....cold shoulder now? Well I do not like that at all."

Nichole sat there, transfixed. She could only hear a low murmur from the Joker when he talked to her. His words were not coming in clearly to her ears.

She yelped when he suddenly grabbed her left arm tightly and yanked her out of the van. He let go of her arm as soon as she was half way out, causing her to crash onto the black pavement, scraping her knee.

"There's the Nichole I like. The one who _screams-sah._" He licked his lips, a grin spreading on his face. He expected her to stand up and cry more, but he was in shock, when she stood up, letting going of her knee, and looked him dead in the eye with no emotion what so ever on her face.

It took everything in her power to not cry, but she trained her mind to focus on nothing. The shock came back over her of what had happened today. The deaths of the ones she cared about… Her mind couldn't take it and the pain in her knee ceased. It was as if all her emotions were gone. The simplest way to put it was she felt numb. Dazed.

The Joke was yet again irritated, and shoved her forward towards the warehouse. She walked slowly and stopped as they reached the door. The Joker opened it and walked inside, Nichole trailing behind him. She knew there was no point in resisting. Her legs felt robotic as she walked. She got a good look around at the place the Joker now called home.

The room they were currently in had many boxes in clumps and stacked on top of each other. Some of the contents inside were flowing out relieving various weapons, papers, or clothing. The ceiling, not being as high as Nichole expected, was lower, suggesting that this warehouse had more than one floor. The place itself did not actually look like a warehouse on the inside, it was more of an office place, with one room (the room they were in) being a place where trucks would come and drop off shipments. There were two garage doors and a van inside the room, with graffiti on it saying "Smile!"

The Joker led her out of the shipment room and into the office area, which was regenerated to look a bit more like a household. The kitchen area was littered with trash and food never finished. The table had guns and a deck of cards on it. A snack machine had its glass broken and the food inside of it was stolen out. The fridge looked like someone had thrown up on it. Also the stove was covered in purple paint.

The office desks must have been cleared out, because now there were chairs and bookcases everywhere. Off to the side were a television and another sofa holding currently three men watching cartoons, which made the Joker raise an eyebrow at them. They were eating pork grinds, and barely even noticed Nichole.

The Joker shoved Nichole again to get her to move forward as they headed up a flight of stairs. Two flights of stairs to be exact. "Second floor, is where my men sleep. If you were wise you would never go on that floor." He said in a matter of fact tone.

The words sounded slur to her and she felt as if she was going to pass out. Her head was as light as feather, and she found as she climbed the stairs that it would fall to the side and she would have to pick it up, to keep herself from falling over.

They reached the third floor, where a long narrow hallway waited for them. At the end of the hallway was a single door, that had the word "Boss" on it, suggesting that it was previously owned by the boss of the building's former company. It was ironic that the Joker would pick the room, but fit him well.

The Joker reached in his pocket pulling out a key and opened the door. Nichole walked forward standing in the threshold peering inside. Before she could get a good look around the Joker grabbed a fistful of the back of Nichole's shirt and shoved her into the room. Before she could recuperate herself as she stumbled, he grabbed the back of her neck and flung her roughly into the room.

She only groaned as she hit the wall on the opposite side of the room, landing smack on the ground. Once she was on the ground, she got up into a kneeling position, facing the wall. From the corner of her eye she could see a bed against the wall on the left. She then kept her focus on the wall's grainy texture and did not bother to turn around when she heard the Joker lock the door. She focused on the cracks in the wall, trying to stay calm.

The Joker was, to be honest, surprised by the fact Nichole was acting this way. She never had kept her emotions inside her like this. Yes she did scream when he caused her pain, but normally that was accompanied by crying and pleading. He started to miss his old Nichole. The old Nichole had come out in the classroom, but had disappeared once Ariel was thrown out the window. If the old Nichole did not come back he might have to throw _her_ out the window. She already knows he is not a person to wait from something.

The Joker would have to **help** her come out of her dazed state of mind.

He kicked his shoes off casually, kicking them into a corner.

"Ah...All the old familiar places eh Nichole? Remember all those good times?" He slowly paced back and forth by the door staring at Nichole's back as she was kneeling.

"Such a shame what you did Nichole...such..a...shame. Not coming to me when I call for you, and most importantly not being on door duty when I thought you were going to be. Some teacher named...Kara was there. You know her?"

Nichole flinched at Kara's name, but remained silent.

"I am going to take that as a...uh yes-sah." He flicked his tongue across his chap lips. "Well when I saw her face where you were supposed to be, I just got a little...." He cracked his neck. "...angry…. and I let her know how angry I was. I think she learned a valuable lesson too. Not to switch shifts with other people. Of course she will be the first body the police find when they enter the building....or no, wait! There were some students of yours dead outside the front doors when they foolishly ran outside when I told them not too. Honestly, why don't people listen to me?"

He walked closer to her, but still kept a reasonably far distance.

"Why don't you listen to me? Ever since that time on the roof...do you remember? That time when you and I made that tape about blowing up a newspaper place? Ever since then you...you just have been wearing my patience thin. Rebelling against me, time after time. Not_ listening-ah._"

"And you did a pretty selfish thing Nichole, keeping that Ariel alive longer than she needed to. Had you not saved her, her death might have been less gruesome than falling from two stories. In fact had you come up to the stage when I called you she would not be....dead. They all would not be dead. Maybe even..." He started to laugh. "And this one cracks me up, but maybe if you hadn't have tried to escape with that...ole what's his name Tom that day six months ago and ended up causing me to get sent to Arkam...maybe then no one would be dead. Tom would not even be dead. You have a lot of blood on your hands Nichole… a lot of blood on them indeed. All the lives you caused to be cut short."

He casually strode over to the wall with a window on it, the curtains drawn over it. He used one finger to shift the curtain so he could see outside briefly, before deciding nothing interesting was out there and looked back at Nichole.

Nichole was shaking, her knuckles turning white from gripping her legs and how much pressure she was applying to them. She was breathing heavily, the rage inside her, slowly building.

The Joker was starting to wear down her shell of defense and he was amused. He just had to wait for her to fall to the floor completely and start crying. Then he might see what was under the clothes he fondled. He didn't know yet.

"You are very selfish Nichole… have I told you this? Lying to your students, to all of them. That one girl....Ariel, correct? Well Ariel said you never even talked about me in your class? I am offended Nichole deeply offended. Am I really that bad to talk about? You teach history, and I am history in the making. I relate to your teachings completely." He grinned at that last sentence liking the sound of it.

"Nikki you need to set a good example for these children, and lying is not a very good example at all. Of course… though… you had the most gullible students on the face of the earth!" He began to laugh again, this time he was really laughing since he found this to be amusing. "That Ariel girl! The dumbest girl I know, believing me?! Me?! She didn't even know about me till recently and yet she believed me over the one she trusts. You. Oh the prick! Oh the stupid little-"

But the Joker didn't get to finish his statement. A blur ran into him.

Nichole charged him when he was wiping the laughing tears from his eyes, and began to punch at his stomach and chest, screaming at the top of her lungs. The Joker doubled over; his laughter was caught in his throat.

The anger inside of her had bubbled over and released. Her target was the monstrous and murderous clown. "YOU BASTARD! I HATE YOU! I FUCKING HATE YOU!" She screamed throwing punches at him.

All her pent up energy came to her now when she was in the bedroom. (Pun intended!)

The Joker stood there in shock, catching his breath. He didn't stop her nor did he even touch her. He just stood there as Nichole threw painful punches at his chest and stomach. He could feel his mouth hang open in a state of confusion. He was dazed. He expected Nichole to scream and break down in hysterics like she did the when he kidnapped her the second time in the tuck. But he was not expecting her to start attacking him. His shock slowly wore off as his sick twisted mind found this rather amusing as she was inflicting pain on him. He looked down at her, swaying from her fierce punches.

His amusement quickly deflated when she punched him square in the jaw. He tasted blood on his tongue.

"YOU KILLED THEM! YOU KILLED THEM ALL! I want them back! You FUCKER! Tom is dead! My old students are dead! EVERYONE I USED TO LOVE IS DEAD! No! No! Fuck! Hate! You! Hate!...You!" She screamed a word on each punch, her knuckles starting to bleed as they were getting cut by his vest's buttons or his pocket watch's chain that hung out of his vest.

Nichole began to kick at him, in various places as her hands felt numb. She made one final attempt at using her hands as she started to hit and bury her fists in his face.

It was at that moment, the Joker came to his senses. He took her battering hands firmly and flung her backwards against the wall again. He knew that it always works in hurting and incapacitating her.

As soon as she hit the wall, she landed on her hands and knees, but quickly got back up, much to the Joker's surprise, and charged him again. She caught him in such a state of awe that she tackled him to ground, with her on top of him.

Taking advantage of her newly dominant state, she began to throw more punches at his face. He grabbed a hold of her wrists to try to keep her hands at bay away from his face. She then began to scream and thrash her arms about trying to break free of his iron grip. She tried to kick at him, and he took a defensive move, quickly grabbing her waist and flipping over so it was now him on top and her beneath him.

She struggled and screamed a bit more, tears starting to fall down her face. The Joker stayed on top of her. He parted her legs with his knees in between them to keep her from kicking, and his gloved hands pinned her wrists to the floor on either side of her face.

Nichole finally calmed down and shook. The realization that she just attacked the Joker came over her and she refused to look up into his eyes. She could hear his breath was heavy as well, and he was breathing out of his mouth, since she could feel his breath on her face.

She closed her eyes and turned her head to the side, gritting her teeth.

They stayed like that for another few minutes, the Joker making sure that Nichole fully calmed down. The nervousness planted like a seed in Nichole's stomach as she got the courage to look up into his eyes.

His hair was dangling down towards her, and his piercing black eyes were wild and dangerous.

The Joker than did something she never would have expected him to do. He smiled his voice boomed loudly with enthusiasm. "Oh how I have missed you!"

He leaned down and smashed his lips onto hers forcefully.

Nichole's scream was muffled by the Joker's mouth. This could not be happening again. It could not.

She felt her body leave the ground, as the Joker stood up, taking her with him as he flung her in the air again. She expected to hit the wall, but was surprised to hit a mattress. She looked down at it; her eyes going wide.

_No....Not again. No. This can't be happening. Please God...No!_

She looked back up at the Joker, who already had his jacket off and was working on his vest. "And now… let me show you how much.....I have missed you." His voice was so deep and husky. He had been holding the urge to pounce on her like a lion and have his way with her. His lust bubbled over and released like Nichole's rage.

_The devious bastard._

His vest was off, along with his shirt, showing his chest which had healed up nicely from all the wounds he had gotten the last time she saw him. He seemed skinner than normal, as his ribs showed slightly through his skin. It seemed like they did not feed him well in Arkam. However, his arms held more muscle definition to them. He definitely had been working out in his cell… which was not a good thing in Nichole's eyes.

He was one smart man. To pounce on her now, when her energy was weaker. The rage was still there, but she felt weak, physically and mentally.

He crept over to the bed grinning dangerously. Her eyes widened as she heard his belt unbuckle. She kneeled on the bed sitting upwards eyeing to the left and right of her for an escape route, until she realized what position she was in the room. The bed was in the corner, so he was basically corning her in at the moment. _He planned this! _She thought, very pissed off. It must have read on her face that she was pissed, because his grin suddenly got wider and even scarier if that was possible. She still attempted to escape by crawling towards the other open side of the bed. Joker laughed, and with one arm (the other still working on his pants) he grabbed Nichole's ankle with one hand and pulled her struggling body back to the center of the mattress.

He crawled onto the bed, shrugging his pants off by his ankles, and took of his gloves, placing both of his dirty hands smeared with blood, dirt, and makeup on her waist. He roughly pulled her body to him, fingers gripping the end of her shirt. He pressed his forehead into her forehead and deadlocked his eyes into hers. The tears from her eyes trickled down her face, landing on his cheek.

He let go of her waist with one hand, and was reaching by his left leg (where a small strap was on his bare skin) on the strap was a knife which he slowly pulled out. He then cut the strap off his leg so he would be comfortable for what he was about to do. He brought the knife by her stomach, letting it caress her bare skin where her shirt slightly lifted; which formed goose bumps as the steel blade made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

He brought the knife upward, putting pressure on the fabric of her shirt slowly and sadistically cutting it off of her. The soft ripping sound it made sent chills down her spine and her eyes involuntarily shut for a brief moment. The knife cut all the way up to her neck. He reached behind her back with his other hand and through the remains of her shirt off the bed. He then went back down and slowly, with much struggle put up from Nichole, relieved her of her green bra, by cutting the straps on her shoulder and front. She screamed and tried to cover her exposed chest with her hands. She felt so disgusted and humiliated.

All these actions were done slowly, prolonging the foreplay, prolonging the anxiety building up inside her.

With the knife still in one of his hands, he laughed as he forcefully pried her hands off her chest. His grip on her wrists was bone crushing as he once again pinned both hands on either side of her head so he could get a good look at what he was fondling over the shirt in the classroom. Oh how he missed her topless sight..

He let go of her wrists and threw the knife across the room and brought his hand up to her face, tracing her scar once more. He backed his face from hers and looked at her scar more closely. He whispered, more to himself than to her, "Beautiful." He then leaned in a let his tongue explore her scar, the feeling of his tongue on her dead, scared, jagged flesh was very uncomfortable. She let out a yelp in her throat. His other hand slid up from her thigh to grasp her breast as he felt the sweat on her skin.

She didn't have time to even move, before she felt his tongue on her lips, demanding entrance to her mouth.

_Let the beast in Nichole...Let him in. _Candy said to Nichole in her head.

The shock of hearing her own voice as Candy again, made Nichole lose her control of her mouth muscles, for just the slightest moment. This caused the Joker to take that moment to let his serpent tongue into her mouth. He was kissing her extremely roughly, and it made her face hurt. She was forced to open her mouth wide, to ease some of the pain, but in doing so it was pulling on the rough tissues of her scar, which in fact hurt itself sometimes too even though it was healed. He had cut all the through her cheek in the inside of her mouth. Sometimes even late at night she felt the knife tearing at her muscles.

The Joker pushed her backwards up against the wall, both of them kneeling up on the bed. Her shivering back slammed into the rough cold wall. When he groped at her pants button, Nichole desperately tried to reach a hand down and stop him, but her hands were being pinned against her chest, as she had brought her hands up to cover her exposed breasts from the monster.

He finally undid her pants and pulled them downwards, taking her undergarments with them. Nichole finally managed to free her hands from their confined state and pushed at his sides.

He pulled back his snake of a tongue and trailed kisses down his throat and to her breasts, his mouth devouring them whole. Like a true animal. As he did that, he yanked her pants by her ankle to rip them off completely. It took him a few tries, as she was kneeling and it required him to pull off her pants without making her stand up, but he succeeded. He rewarded himself by moving his mouth to her other breast. The Joker's hair was repeatedly hitting her in the face as he did this and the shire pain of him sucking on her cause her to groan out it pain.

Enjoying her sound, he bit down on her nipple causing her to scream in agony and try to pull her hands to his shoulders to push him away. As his head was still in her chest, he grabbed a hold of both of her wrists, bruising them. His strong arms then slammed her hands against the wall on either side of her head. Try as she may, she couldn't free them from the iron clasps of his hands. He was already leaning forward into her, so it was rather easy for him.

Nichole was forced to kneel there, as the Joker literally took bites of her delicate flesh. She groaned in pain, screamed in rage, and cried each time he bit and sucked.

Those were his favorite three sounds from her. To him, it was beautiful. Like a singer singing out in theatrical performance. Her screams of pain were the most entertaining thing for his eardrums.

His right hand let go of her left wrist as he quickly fastened it to her left breast, squeezing and fondling roughly. He pulled it up to meet his excited wet mouth. Her chest heaved in anger under both his hand and mouth. Even though she could not see it, she could feel him smile at her yelps.

She hated him. No, she LOATHED him with every fiber of her being. She hated the way he made her feel so helpless and humiliated as he would enjoy himself. To her, he was a cold heartless MONSTER. She hated the feel of him touching her, the feel of him invading her. And right now, she gritted her teeth at the disgust of his saliva covering her chest.

He moved back up to her face, nuzzling his mouth into the side of her neck, as he brought one hand back down her waist, and pulled her back into him so she could feel his length hard against her.

She began to shake uncontrollably. He removed his boxers with his free hand and he bit down into her neck as he used both his hands to pry her legs from her kneeling position. He grabbed a leg in each hand and forced her to wrap them around his body, holding painfully onto both her thighs to keep her up. He dug his fingernails into her skin; blood now flowing out of her legs. Her bottom was lifted as that and the back of her legs rested on the Joker's thighs. He then let out a growl in his throat, as he had been keeping in all this desire and lust till this very moment.

He pushed her fiercely back onto the wall as he thrust inside of her. Her spinal cord hit the wall very wrong, and it felt as if her back was breaking. She tried to arch her back, but he was putting too much pressure on her to even allow her to move. He was on her and he was not going to stop.

She could only manage to arch it so that her neck and the top of her shoulders were slamming into the wall.

She let out screams of agony as he pulled back, and then thrusted back in again. She forgot how much this hurt.

_You do realize he likes it when you scream Nikki? You may be pleasing him, but you aren't giving his full potential satisfaction. _Candy chimed in her head in her seductive voice. _Why not let me try him out for a test run?_

Suddenly, her hands went around his back, under his arms, and her nails dug into his back slowly. She felt blood pour out from where she was scratching him. She had no idea why her hands were doing this. It wasn't in a clawing trying to escape way, but more of a sexual way.

_No stop it! _Nichole screamed in her head at Candy.

She regained her hand control and slammed each of her firsts into his back, surely leaving bruises. She kept on hitting his back.

He grunted her off, and thrust deeper into her, making her squeal out in pain. She felt as if she was burning right now, burning up in a fire everywhere. The sweat from his body soaked onto her every time he went into her and slammed his chest onto her frail one. She squeezed her legs against his waist, her muscles tensing as the pain increased. She let out a clear moan, bringing tears to her eyes. The entire time, the side of the Joker's face was pressed into the side of her neck. As he continued thrusting, his one arm wrapped around her waist bringing her closer while the other latched itself around her back. His hand came up behind and grasped her shoulder. He was so close to her. He began grunting into her clavicle.

"Come on Nichole! Come on! COME ON!" He growled in a low voice biting her neck. "Give up!"

She hit his back more, then moved up and tried to rip at his poorly dyed green hair. "FUCK YOU!" She screamed as she slammed her fists into his sides before beating at the hard muscles in his back. He didn't seem to notice or care. He stopped biting at her neck and just looked her in the eye maliciously as his thrusts got faster and shorter. He kept growling in his throat, which was starting to scare Nichole. He didn't seem in control, he seemed to be at his most dangerous.

He was a mad dog, and Nichole feared he would snap at her any second.

She felt a warm liquid start to pass into her, and then he laughed wildly as he came. He brought his face to lean on her shoulder as he was very tired now and just laughed into her shoulder. Makeup smeared off onto her skin. Nichole felt very sick and was resisting the urge to throw up as bile rose into her mouth. She hated him inside her. Her back felt like it was broken, and everywhere between her legs was numb. The Joker looked at her smiling taking one finger and running it across his forehead taking white makeup with it, and then running that finger across her face leaving the trail of white dirty makeup there.

Nichole fell forward into the Joker, landing on his sweaty chest; her arms not responding to her and her legs very weak, as they had been tightly wrapped around him. Her muscles relaxed, but it felt as if she had ridden her first horse ever and now was sore.

He was still sitting up with his arms wrapped around her. His head leaned against the wall. He took in the scent of her wet skin.

She could hear the Joker's heart beat, she was surprised herself that he even had a heart, and it was very fast and beat wildly. She could hear him breathing extremely, heavy and she was as well. She was surprised the Joker hadn't shooed her off of his chest, yet since she herself couldn't do it.

Suddenly, the Joker was falling backwards, taking Nichole with him. They landed on the bed, heads by the pillow; Nichole on top of the Joker.

He shifted her so she was laying on the bed, but her shoulder and head was on his chest. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pushed her into his chest more, rubbing her arm gently. "As you can see..." He began, still out of breath, "I really… really missed you." He laughed, patting her arm.

Nichole wanted to get off of him, but her body was too sore to react. She could only roll so she was on her side but the Joker made sure her head was still on his chest. _A couple more times and it won't hurt. _She told herself grimly. She began to silently cry at that thought of that, knowing that she will never escape the Joker, no matter what. She would die either due to him or with him.

The Joker sighed. "Oh Nichole what am I going to do with you hmm? You are my weakness. You saw how I shot my men because they insulted you. You really aren't worth that much Nichole, so tell me why I came back for you? Why did I waste my time to grab you again?"

"Because you're a monster...." she whispered, still shaking.

He brought his other hand from across his body down and squeezed her breast viscously, to cause her pain. She yelped and he let out a laugh. "No-no now no name calling today. I came back for you because Nichole you are about to turn all of Gotham against its police forces. Do you know how?"

She was not expecting that answer from him, she shook her head, figuring he'd feeling her head move on his chest for her answer.

"Let's just say the world knows now....your dirty little secret."

"What?" She gasped, what the hell was he talking about.

"How funny it is you can easily assume someone is dead. I had a man of mine check… and apparently your little Ariel is in the hospital alive."

Nichole gasped as she sat up. His arm was still around her shoulders so she couldn't move that far away from him.

He grinned as he continued. "I had gotten the phone call while we were in the van heading here telling me she was alive. She was a little mad at you last time you uh...were talking to _her-rah......._She is going to spread your secret like wild fire."

Three seconds later she realized what he was talking about. "No! She wouldn't!" She looked at his face terrified.

The Joker laughed again clearly amused. "But oh she would. And by doing that Nichole do you know what will happen?"

She remained quiet, her brain buzzing and her nerves just about to give her a heart attack.

"It means that Gotham will no longer trust its police force. They will accuse them of hiding the case about you and endangering the lives of everyone. The parents of the students will be suing Gotham causing all chaos...and yanno what? It's all because of one stupid girl believing me over you. This really is all of your fault if it comes down to it though."

Nichole leaned up to slap him, but fast as lightening, he caught her wrist in his hand before she could hit him. He laughed as he tried to pull her down to him. She struggled, gritting her teeth, and somehow managed to turn so her back was facing him in order to move away from him and not see his hideous, lying, face. But his left arm quickly wrapped itself around her chest from behind, as he too turned to his side, causing her to crash down on the bed. He then tightened his arm around her chest, pushing her back so her back was pressed into his chest. The Joker laughed. She simply, could never escape him. His hand on the arm around her chest felt its way to grasp a hold of Nichole's right breast, squeezing. She groaned.

They would have looked like a romantic couple, spooning, if only it wasn't forced.

_At least I don't have to look at him,_ she assured herself, staring blankly at the wall she was now facing.

"The best part about this though," he continued, "is you will be a wanted criminal. You can't leave here unless you want to get arrested. I am your_ uh,_ only option-nah." He laughed manically; Nichole felt his chest vibrating against her as he did.

"Now go to sleep my Nikki, and think about all the wonderful things you are doing to this city. How funny though I achieved my goal. I was able to corrupt a city with just one single person." The Joker shut his eyes, giving her breast one last squeeze.

Nichole was in too much shock to even consider falling asleep. All these things happening because of her.

The Joker let out a long breath, suggesting he was trying to sleep, but just before he was going to drift off into dreamland. "The sex was good too." He mumbled, wheather it was to Nichole or himself she could not tell.

She rolled her eyes and scowled.

Despite of her new attitude now, the Joker could feel that Nichole's heart was sky rocketing due to his hand.

Somewhere, deep inside of his psychotic mind, he knew that this was closest he would ever be to Nichole's heart.

* * *

**Syd:** FINALLY! _(hugs Kait)_ about TIME we got this out!

**Kait:** _(hugs syd)_ I know i am so proud! I love it! Your the best beta reader ever!

**Nichole:** _(fuming and breathing heavily in fury)_

**Joker:** Um, babe? Didn't you enjoy the fun we had?

**Nichole:**_ (turns to the Joker and beats him with her Candy pole)_

**Joker:** Ow! Nichole?! What the heck?!

**Nichole:** _(Continues beating him)_ YOU CHEATED ON ME IN A DREAM WITH EYE CANDY'S NEW EDITOR! _(glares at Syd)_

**Syd:** (_shifty eyes)_ oh shit! Because this was slightly based on a dream I had!

**Joker:** Ouch! Babe, it was only a onetime thing! _(points to Syd)_ she started the dream!

**Syd:** HEY HEY HEY! Don't attack me! Besides shouldn't you be mad at the author of this story!? The one who wrote you getting hurt and attacked many times by the Joker? _(points to Kait)_

**Kait:** ...Way to throw me under the bus!

**Syd:** What bus? _(A bus crashes into the room and runs over Syd)_

**Nichole:** _(glares at Kait and stalks over to her)_ Hey she's right you know! Your making me get hurt!

**Kait:** _(backs up) _Heh well. Readers i hope you enjoyed the chapter!

***New Fan art by Para Soup***


	35. A Normal Conversation

**Kait:**Muhahaha. I am so devious. I keep giving little snipplets of Gordon and what he's doing. Again it happens in this chapter. I am so evil _(snickers)_

**Joker:** ...You're starting to scare me.

**Kait:** ...Sorry. I don't feel good and so I took medicine, only to realize it was the medicine that is suppose to put you to sleep...and I uh...took more then I needed to and well its the morning..so I shouldn't be a sleep.

**Joker:** _(facepalms)_

**Syd:** _(shakes head)_ for the first time, you have me at a loss of words

* * *

The hospital was buzzing with life as police officers were running back and forth from room to room. A crowd of news reporters were locked outside of the building, all yelling to be let in. Parents were in the waiting area screaming and begging to be allowed to see their children… Or to at least know if they were still alive. The pandemonium in the hospital caused one of the nurses to quit her job, for her heart couldn't take it. She left out the back door to avoid the news reporters brisk running and screaming to find answers.

Gordon paced back and forth in the hallway. All the screaming and yelling seemed to float right past his ears. He was in deep thought about what the hell he was going to do about all this. Soon the world would know about Nichole and the Joker's connection.

A shiver ran down his spine at that realization.

"Gordon?" A nurse came out of one of the hospital rooms. "She just woke up and said she is ready to talk to you.....and she says she wants news reporters in with her." The nurse shook her head as she said that last part, not wanting anything to do with the mob outside.

"Well that is certainly not going to happen." Gordon stated walking past the nurse and into the room.

Ariel was laying still on her white bed. Bruises covered her arms and face. Her eyes were red and puffy, from crying so much. She had casts on both her arms, and one of her legs. She was also wearing a neck brace. She appeared to be very uncomfortable, but as soon as she made eye contact with Gordon, she glared at him.

He went over and sat on the chair next to her bed and sighed looking at her injuries up close.

He couldn't help but remember being in this similar position with poor, traumatized Nichole laying in the hospital bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked comfortingly.

"My anger overpowers my pain." She tried to hiss, but choked on her neck brace as she spoke. "I guess I am feeling not too good. The medicine is wearing off. I told the nurse to keep it off of me for now since it will put me to sleep, and I want to talk to you."

"Well I am listening, so what is it that you have to say?" he asked, hiding his worried expression, because he knew all too well what she was going to say.

"Your.. your Gotham police force h-hid it from us." Despite her furious expression, she couldn't help but choke on her cries. "You hid a w-wanted criminal at our school! She was our teacher!" She screamed.

"I can explain this to you Ariel if you will let me-"

"No I do not want an explanation! No matter what you put us all in danger because you had someone who the Joker was after or had a connection to at our school! ALL of us are victims! My friends… my teachers.. Oh God!" she began to cry. She was shaking so terribly as tears fell down her face.

Gordon could only relate to what she was feeling. She was a young girl.. a teenager.. who had just witness a terrible event that NO ONE should witness. All of her friends.. shot to bits while she sat there helpless.

She stopped crying after a few moments and turned to him. Her tearing eyes only enhanced her features of seething rage.

"No matter what you say that is the truth," she said, swallowing before she continued, "and I do not think a court of law will be too happy with your police force after all of us are done with you!"

Gordon felt the sweat start to trickle down his neck. "All of us?"

"The parents of all us students who are injured or dead… we will be taking your police system to court you can bet on that! Then your city will see how trusting your cops are! And what's worst the Joker is still out there!" Ariel groaned, obviously the pain hitting her hard now. She began screaming and convulsing in agony.

Gordon called over for a nurse to help.

A nurse rushed over injecting a shot into her IV.

"This isn't over." Ariel warned.

Gordon rushed out of the room, his heart quickening each step he took. This was not going to end well. Not going to end well at all.

* * *

If you asked Nichole, what she would dream about if she was ever back with the Joker scared, terrified and in pain, she definitely would not say she would be dreaming about flying.

She was flying across Gotham. Not liking the view she decided to fly higher into the black darkness, heading towards a bright star that caught her eye. As she got closer to the star, it started to fade. Panic hit her and she flew faster to the fading star. She cried out to it, but it didn't hear her. She reached the star and it was all but ash and a few burning embers. She ran her fingers through the ash crying and mourning for the star. Her last speck of hope.

Suddenly a bright light was seen from the burning embers, and a new brighter star emerged from the ashes. Nichole let out a sigh of relief and patted the star. But as soon as she touched the star, she started to fall back down to earth. She could not fly anymore. Her spirit was gone. She screamed and reached out to the star to help her, but it began to float away from her. She could see Gotham coming back to view, along with a patch of land that she knew would be her final resting place.

"Nooooo!" She screamed.

As she hit the ground, her eyes flew open.

Taking in the comfort of knowing it was only a dream, the feelings and emotions from it went away. She held in her sigh of relief though, as her eyes widened to what was next to her.

She was still on the bed, now a comforter was over her. Makeup was smeared everywhere on the bed, and a sleeping body was to the left of her.

The Joker was sound asleep, not making a single noise except the soft sound of him breathing. He was facing her, his back to the rest of the room, while Nichole was facing him, her back to the wall. She must have turned over in her sleep. When she was younger, and always climbed into bed with her parents when she stirred in the night, her mother would always complain that Nichole kicked, and tossed and turned in the night making it hard for her to sleep. That must still happen, for she never noticed before what side she would sleep on and what side she would wake up on. Now when it matters, it happens.

Normally waking up to the Joker's face just a few inches near her would make her scream, but most of his makeup was off (she guessed it was all on her) and he looked peaceful at this moment, since no emotion was on his face and his eyes were shut tight. Minus the scars and excessive bags under his eyes, he could be a normal man sleeping. But this man was anything from normal, in fact in her eyes he wasn't a man, but an animal; a beast.

She started to wonder if anything sharp was in the room so she could stab him while he slept, but knowing him he probably woke in the middle of the night and hid all his knives. It must have been at that same time that he put a comforter over the two of them. He knew her all too well now to know she would kill him if she woke up with her naked body exposed to the bare air.

Nichole had the sudden urge to go to the bathroom and cringed. The bathroom was in this room, as the Joker had a private one, just like the last place he had staged for his house. She feared that since the bathroom was still in this room, she might wake up the sleeping man when she is in there. Waking up the Joker up wasn't something she wanted to do at the moment.

She slowly took the blanket and folded it off of her. A cold breeze hit her and she looked down at herself. Nichole now wanted to hit the Joker even more realizing he had cut up all her clothes and now she had nothing to put on. Hell no!

She then remembered that he hadn't cut off her pants. She quickly scanned the room in frantic search for them. She then realized that he must have either hidden her pants as well.

She had to crawl off the bed, since it was placed in the corner and she was closest to the wall. Every step she took, she would look back at the Joker to make sure he was not awake. Of course for all she knew he could be faking it. She found it odd that he was even still asleep, since all the last times he fell asleep with her in his arms, he had woken up first. He must be tired from his "big day" yesterday. After all he had done a lot in one day and on the same day he escaped from Arkam; which was still a mystery to her as to how he did it.

She finally got off the bed, and hugged herself as she was getting cold and goosebumps danced her bare skin. She tiptoed to the bathroom, slowly shutting the door, behind her.

She rushed to the toilet to relieve herself, worried this whole time a certain someone would come crashing through the door and attack.

After she was done, she decided to go against her gut and look in the mirror. This whole time she was in a lot of pain, and it wasn't pinpointed to one spot, but numerous. The most intense places would have to be her legs and her back and neck. Her legs felt like she pulled a muscle in each of them. She didn't even want to start with the pain in her back as it would crack and then stiffen every time she walked. Her neck was stiff as hell and she painfully turned her head to the right to crack it, quickly feeling relief afterwards.

Her heart fell out of her body as she looked at herself in the mirror. For the second time in two days she felt disgusted, not with the Joker, but herself.

Her hair was all messy and her bangs were parted all wrong. There was white, black and red makeup smeared all over her face, especially around her mouth and neck area. There was some makeup along her chest as well, but it appeared most had been washed off by sweat. She nearly doubled over when her eyes traveled to her breasts in the mirror. Her tender breasts were covered in numerous bite marks, bruises and hickeys. She felt bile rise to her mouth as she remembered his bite… and his greedy saliva.

She had bruises on the inside of her legs, on her arms (especially on the wrists where he had his iron grip locked tight on them) and her stomach. Bite marks, and scratches were everywhere, and a faint bruise was on her face. She felt disgusting. She looked disgusting. She looked like a person that should be found on a street corner looking for sex.

She couldn't take it anymore. She rushed over to the toilet and emptied her stomach. The disgusts of everything that he did to her hit her like a dagger in her stomach.

When she was done, she flushed the toilet and turned on the fan (thankful that there was one in the bathroom) and rinsed her mouth out in the tap water of the sink. The fan's comforting breeze wiped the sweat droplets off of her face and body, and rid her of the feeling of having a fever.

She wanted to cry, but her eyes felt dry and raw. Trying not trying to make a lot of noise, she began to wash her face and body. The warm water felt amazing against her wounds. She splashed some more water on her face, looking back up at the mirror to see if she and done a good job.

The loud gasp that escaped her mouth could not be hidden.

There in the mirror was Candy, grinning away at her deviously. In her costume, makeup and everything. She had all the same wounds as Nichole even, but makeup was covering them lightly.

"Nichole I thought by now you would be used to seeing me? I really am not that scary am I?" Candy asked tilting her head.

"What....what are you?" Nichole whispered to the mirror.

"What...What am I?" Candy blinked, looking at Nichole as if she couldn't believe she was asking this. "Do you really not even know? I am you silly." Candy laughed.

"You're not me...you aren't me!" Nichole stated her voice getting higher.

Candy waved her hands. "Shh shh! Keep it down doll face. Do you want the Joker to hear you and come in here? If he find you talking to the mirror, well hey...he might think you're a little craaaaazy." She giggled, taking her index finger and making swirling motions by her head.

"You can't be me. I am me!" Nichole brought her voice back down to a whisper taking Candy's advice. "And why do you keep talking in my head! Sometimes I can't control what I do! It's you isn't it! That time in the classroom, you held me back from the Joker when he was attacking Ariel! And last night you… you scratched the Joker's...back." Nichole looked disgusted. "And it was as if I did, but I didn't. I swear! You did it!" Regardless of how dry her eyes were, tears began to flow out of them. Tears of anger and frustration.

Candy sighed rolling her eyes. "I just wanted to have a little fun is all. Nichole really, I was messing around. Jeez taking things a little too seriously are we?"

"Get...out...of...my head!" Nichole hit the mirror lightly with a shaking hand.

"Honestly Nichole, you are an idiot. Hitting the mirror is not the smartest thing to do. If you don't control your anger, you will just make things worse. Breaking the mirror not a good idea you will not only wake up but piss off ole lazy bones who is sleeping away in the other room right now.....but hey! I do like your anger. It's what controls me, so really i should not complain."

"What?" Nichole raised an eyebrow utterly confused.

"Nichole....last time you were here… how do I put this without offending you…" Candy scrunched her nose. "You were a bit weak. Okay whatever I am going to be frank you were very weak. You cried and felt sorry for yourself all last time that you were with the Joker. Only towards the end did you show anger and that was after Thomas died. When that happened, your brain sorta rewired if I may say. Have you not noticed all this anger you feel now? I mean even when looking in the mirror at all those love marks, you felt disgusted yes...but also an anger built inside of you."

She sighed, and continued, "Which I don't see why you hate them, Nichole. I think those love bites and marks look lovely against your skin. The Joker really knows how to leave his...mark." She laughed.

Nichole glared, shivering still from the cold.

"Darling, if you're cold, there is a robe over there. I am not sure if the Joker purposely put it there, but it is a bathrobe. Might as well put it on till you get new clothes."

Nichole turned around and sure enough hanging on a hook was a white bathrobe. She scurried over and put it on, feeling the itchy, but warm material it was made of.

"All better now?" Candy asked, it sounded as if she was faking interest and faking comfort to a five year old.

"You were saying...about my anger?" Nichole tried to guide Candy back on track.

"Ah yes....well when your anger rewired your brain, it allowed me to come into the light a bit. You see, when you get angry it builds up...and eventually it builds up so high that I am able to come out into you and take control. So keep that anger coming girl, I like having the dominant side of you." Candy gave a thumbs up grinning.

"Why....why are you doing this? Why? Leave me alone! I didn't do a thing to you! Why do you hate me?" Nichole demanded.

Candy put on a shocked face again. Whether it was fake or real Nichole couldn't tell.

"Nichole! I am appalled! You think I hate you? I could never hate you! You created me after all. Don't you know one does not hate its creator? When the Joker gave you that assignment to create an alter ego... Seriously you could have just bought all black clothing and said you were a robber, but no. Instead you went for the whole shabang, which I love what you chose. The colors honestly fit so well together I love it! Nichole though I have one thing to say, and that is stop blaming me please? You created me, I am innocent here. If there is anyone to blame it would be you."

"That's not true! It's the Jokers fault!"

"Oh ho ho, now blaming the Joker?" Candy asked, hiding her giggle by biting her lip.

"If I created you why are you doing this to me?! And why do you like the Joker?! When I dressed as Candy...When i dressed as **me**, I still hated the Joker just as I do now!"

"Okay. That is where I draw the line. One question at a time dear, and you are certainly wrong. You are not me. I am me. We are two people with one body dear. We are polar opposites, with one connection and that would be appearance, and we share a brain." Candy tapped her head. "And Nichole it should be said, I do not hate you. I am thankful for you creating me. Honestly and sincerely thankful." Candy did not sound thankful at all, as this whole time she kept the same soft and slow voice.

"But Nichole you are....misguided. I want to help you be guided onto the right path."

"And what is...the right path?" Nichole glared at the mirror. She heard a cough in the other room, belonging to the Joker and panicked, thinking he was going to come in, but no more sounds were heard and she sighed in relief.

"The right path is with the one you hate." Candy smiled pointing towards the door to the bedroom.

Nichole opened her mouth at Candy in disgust. "I do not want to follow that monster! He ruined my life." Nichole could not help the fact her voice rose. Candy placed a single finger over her mouth to signal Nichole to be quiet, and Nichole was shocked when the exact same movement Candy did, she mimicked. Nichole involuntarily placed a single finger over her mouth, and stopped talking.

"You see? Your anger allows me to take control, and sometimes it is for the better. Like helping teach you to shut up when someone is sleeping nextdoor. And yes he has done things to hurt you, but you need to see the whole picture." Candy spread her arms out. "Have you not seen how corrupt this world is Nichole? Have you not seen how horrible this world is? People lie, cheat, steal. No one is innocent. Everyone is a sinner. The Joker is merely showing you the ugly side of the world. Tough love."

"He doesn't love me and I do not love him. We hate each other."

Candy sighed. "I know that, but i am seriously not sure that you know it is rude to interrupt my dear. Shut your lips. As I was saying, the Joker is not evil. He is showing you and the rest of the world how corrupt the world is. But the rest of the world isn't looking with their minds at what the Joker is doing. They are looking with their eyes, so they only see him as a monster." She brought her hands up to her eyes as if they were fake glasses; an action little preschoolers would do. "If you stop looking with your eyes Nichole, and start looking with your mind and logically thinking, you would realize the Joker is showing how horrible humans are. He isn't committing crimes to gain money, like everyone else is. He doesn't care about personal affects. He cares only about sending the message that humans are the monsters. He is the only decent person I know of. People do not want to accept the Joker's thinking because it is the truth. It is justice! Nichole, the Joker is right."

Nichole stared absently at Candy, in complete shock at what she had said. She was afraid she was going to pass out.

"I think answered all your questions." Candy looked at her fingernail, as if she was about to file it with a nail file. "Oh...yes. Why do I like the Joker? Well I think, Missy, I just answered that. He is the bearer of truth. Only real men are like that. And plus it's hot to see him blowing stuff up. I think he is rather dashing… and I am surprised you cannot see it Nichole. No matter, just keep in mind that there are two reasons your heart speeds up when he stalks closer to you. One, because you are terrified and hate him with a passion, and two because I love him and his intelligent way of life." She giggled.

"Candy...please..Can you leave me alone? Can you not be in me. Is there a way I can get out of me?" Nichole wiped her eyes.

"Nichole you are talking to me as if this is a movie." Candy then mocked Nichole's voice. "Trying to get me out of your body and into another?! PSH!" She rolled her eyes. "Nichole this is reality. Not fantasy. Not a movie. Not a book. This is real. The only way to get me out is...for you to get out. Eventually it will all come down to a battle between you and me Nichole. Only one of us if getting this body and you keep your anger up it will be **me**."

Candy eyed Nichole up and down. "And if I were you....I'd hide that necklace your mother gave you that is around your neck at this moment. If the Joker sees it and find out it was your mothers...well...he might destroy it or something to deliberately hurt you."

Nichole gasped pulling the chain out of the robe, touching the crescent moon charm at the end of the necklace. "I don't understand....you want to take control of me and yet you help me." She whispered while looking at it.

"Like I said Nichole, I do not hate. You're just misguided. And since we share the same brain....some things that would sadden you...would sadden me too. That was mothers. Hide it. Where? I do not know. Even if you don't hide it, just do not attract interest to it for the Joker. In the car ride over here, I do not know if you even noticed but you were absently moving the charm back and forth on the chain. You are lucky the Joker did not notice. He was busy waiting for that phone call to tell him that Ariel was still alive. Girl....it will not be so bad being a wanted criminal."

Nichole looked down. "This can't be happening," she whispered, "I do not want this.. I want my old life back!"

Candy sighed. "Obviously that is not going to happen-" Candy stopped mid sentence, her eyes widening as she looked to her left (Nichole's right, since after all Candy was in the mirror) at the door. She looked back at Nichole and spoke quickly. "A guest is about to come in here. Make it look like you were crying because of the pain and not because of me. It would be better if the Joker were not to know about us. You and me. That might complicate things in my agenda."

"Your agenda?" Nichole tilted her head as Candy began to fade from the mirror and Nichole could vaguely see herself.

"Nichole?" Candy asked.

"Yes?"

"You're talking to yourself!" Candy yelled angry wanting Nichole to stop talking as it would bring attention to herself if the Joker were to walk in and see.

_Oh shit…_

Nichole didn't have time to respond when the door to the bathroom slowly opened, and there leaning in the threshold was the Joker, in just his boxers grinning at her wickedly. "Early bird this morning eh?"

* * *

**Kait:**Well this chapter was going to be longer, but yanno. My fingers are numb. I need gloves. They are freezing! The reason for this was cause well, I wanted you to have a better understanding towards Candy, and treat her like a whole different person and not Nichole cause seriously they are completely different.

**Joker: **Yeah...one's hotter.

**Nichole:** _(glares)_ He better be talking about me.

**Candy:** Toots he was talking about me _(grins)_

**Nichole and Candy:** _(cat fight with each other, which means Nichole is basically beating herself up)_

**Syd: **And I must say Kait, I am very impressed that you wrote this up without me pestering you about it.

**Kait:** I am turning over a new leaf! _(smiles)_


	36. When Candy Comes Out To Play

**Kait:** HE WON! HE WON! HE WON! HEATH LEDGER! He won best supporting actor at the Oscars! Fuck yes! I cried when he won. His parent's speech was so touching! He deserved it though! Screw all the haters that say he won because he died! His performance was the best I have seen in all my life, so he deserved it for the performance and the acting job, not his state of being. Congrats Heath! You earned it!

**Syd:** _(wipes eyes)_ Heath Ledger, I have loved you for so many years! RIP man.. you gave the performance of the decade!

**Joker: **Congrats!

* * *

The Joker took his hand casually off the side of the door frame, eyeing Nichole up and down with suspicion. He took a step inside, dropping his hands to his side. Nichole backed up ever so slightly, clutching the front of the bathrobe she wore, hoping he was not going to rip it off of her.

He slowly made his way in front of her, his head narrowed downward as he towered over her menacingly. He had one eyebrow raised. Nichole tried to keep a blank face, but knew her disgust and hate towards him was showing on her face, along with her fear. But this time her fear was of two things. The Joker and her sanity. She obviously was not sane and she knew this. It is not normal for one to see someone else inside of them. She feared that Candy would take over her and the Joker would hate Candy, since Candy was a bit too much like him in a sense, and the Joker was into the weaker ones. Nichole for example. The Joker was definitely into Nichole, as he was last night. When she thinks _"into her" _she means in a way that he hates her, but he'd keep her alive for now. Love was a word that she would never incorporate with him.

The Joker raised one hand in the air and brought two fingers down to the belt of the robe, firmly grasping at it, giving it a small tug. Nichole yelped, holding onto it tighter, and trying to squat down to the floor. "Yanno taking people's belongings without asking is called stealing, which is against the law." He stated, grabbing her shoulder to keep her standing up.

Nichole, as shaken as she was, looked at him in the eye biting the inside of her mouth as she whispered. "You stole me."

She thought back to everything the Joker had stolen from her. She thought about, her students, her house, her beloved Tom and her dog Atticus. Though his list was already filled to the last marking in the note, it still kept on rising. Just yesterday she lost the new life that she had grown to love so much. Her job, her new friends and her students. Now she lost her sanity. The one thing she swore she would never lose.

She sunk her teeth into her bottom lip to keep from crying.

The Joker licked his lips, tilting his head at her. "I thought...uh...we had been over this many times now. Now listen Nikki, cause I am only going to say this one more time. If I have to again I may just carve it into you. You. Belong. To. Me.....You'd think that beautiful scar on your face would be enough proof, but I guess if you want another one so you are reminded......" He ran his dirty fingers over the J scar, and smiled.

She shuttered involuntarily in his grasp. He moved forward on her pressing her into one of the few places on the wall, which was a free space in the tiny bathroom. He exhaled out of his mouth purposely onto her face. "I have to admit doll face...Last night was a fun night of tricks."

Nichole held back a scream as she remembered just a few moments ago Candy had said the word "Doll face". It was true, then. Candy and the Joker are alike in many ways, even speech. Nichole had to think more about Candy and why really she was formed in her mind. Nichole was a smart enough individual to know, when one starts talking to themselves, it's time to figure it out quickly before things get out of hand. Of course she would be thinking more about this, if the Joker wasn't invading her personal space at the moment.

"Normally I make all the marks." He ran his fingers over the visible cuts on her face, the bite marks on her neck and the bruises surrounding both of her wrists.

"But it seems you got feisty as well my little Nichole. My back was sore when I woke up. And I wonder why." He smiled.

She cocked her head in confusion at him.

Suddenly, it dawned on her.

Only then, did her eyes scrutinized the work on his newly damaged body.

His face was covered with newly forming bruises. He had one particularly dark one on the side of his jaw. These were the bruises that _she_, herself, had inflicted upon him. As her eyes trailed down his neck and over his bare torso, she noticed the evident purple and painful bruises that covered his body. All of them were from the time her rage had bubbled over and reached its peak.

Her lips trembled; she had no idea she was capable of causing this monster harm.

_His back!_

Her eyes widened. She now remembered how Candy had dug her fingernails lustfully in his back when he-....…

"Of course I don't mind at all...but tell me what brought on such an act." He bite his lip to stop himself from erupting into laughter, as he saw clearly on her face that she knew what he was talking about.

"You are a pig to think that I did that in a way that meant I enjoyed it!" She spat in his face. "I was trying to cause you pain so you would let go! YOU'RE A FUCKING MONSTER! You took _everything_ from me! My students, my pride, my hope, my home, my friends, my dignity, my body.." She choked on the last word as tears threatened to pour out of her eyes. Her throat felt very raw. That factor disgusted her most of all. After it seemed that he had taken everything that was close to her, he consummated his statement of her belonging to **only **him by taking her!

The Joker showed on his face his anger had risen, and he snarled at her looking as if he was going to slap her across the face. But surprisingly he did not.

He suddenly slipped his fingers into the side neck of her robe starting to pull down. Nichole let out a shriek as she brought her hands to his pained chest and pushed. He ignored her though and wrapped his other arm behind her waist pulling her to him. She brought a hand up to his, the one tugging on the robe, and tightly grabbed it to prevent him from going down any further.

He placed his mouth next to her ear, her face being now close to his shoulder. He spoke very slowly and softly making sure Nichole would every single word. "And you know… that last thing… I can take it again… As many… times… as… I want-tah. It belongs to me."

He then leaned back and let go of her, letting out a fit of his infamous laughter.

He turned towards the bathroom sink, still giggling. Nichole couldn't hold back a gasp as his back turned to her. She slid down against the wall, holding the robe closed and curling up her knees.

His back was by far worse than his chest. Painful bumps and purple bruises seemed to cover his entire back. They were all from when Nichole had pounded her fists into his muscles to cause him pain. She was shocked at the fact that she was the one who did this to him.

And sure enough, the scratch marks were evident on his back, proving Candy's existence.

He stared at himself in the mirror, making a few faces at himself before rubbing water on himself to remove the last of the makeup on his face. Nichole once again found herself surprised by his makeup less face. He creepily smiled at himself once more, before reaching for a small yellow object placed on the sink.

She was in shock to see it was actually a small yellow toothbrush in his hands. He ran it under water and placed it in his mouth to clean his teeth.

Nichole stared opened mouth at him. He had yellow teeth; she knew this as she had been up close and personal with them. So why would he brush them to make them white? Was he turning over a new leaf? What was going on?

The Joker sensed her looking at him, and looked at her with an eyebrow raised. With toothbrush still in his mouth he mumbled, "Whaaa? I dun ooos toothpasstsaa. If I ooos only waaatah my eeeth-"

But Nichole interrupted him, barely being able to understand what he spoke. "What?"

He sighed removing the yellow toothbrush. "If I don't use toothpaste, I just remove the food in my teeth, but I keep the yellow tinge I have grown to adore. What?" He looked at her confused. "A guy brushes his teeth and now you freak out at him? Nichole you are very odd you know that?" He continued to brush his teeth.

Nichole frowned burying her face in her lap. Images of Ariel on the ground bleeding and hurt popped into her mind. She quickly raised her head back up, blinking realizing she was crying, from that simple image of her former student. Nichole was thankful Ariel was alive, but wished she could see her once more and explain to her the situation. She then pictured Jesse, dead, and Ariel hovering over his body in tears screaming. "NICHOLE! This is all your fault look! He's dead! I loved him and he's dead! You caused this!"

And really she did. The fact she was alive and at the school, was an open arm welcoming for the Joker.

She hated him with every fiber of her being… and there he was brushing his teeth plainly in front of her. He wasn't paying attention. He was an open target for attack. She could...just sneak up behind him...and-

"You're in for a treat today Nichole, a real treat." He chimed finishing his daily care of himself, as too little as it may be. "I decided as soon as I woke up that, yesterday was big day for me. A big...big day. I did so much in such a short amount of time, so in order to stay on my schedule and not get ahead, I am going to take today off and spend it with my favorite person in the whole world." He smiled manically at her, looking at her as if she was meat and he was a hungry stray dog.

"Please tell me you fancy a henchman of yours dearly." Nichole said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. She had a new plan on her mind. Get the Joker to hate her. To hate her so much that he can't stand to be around her and just kills her to relieve himself of her. To do that she needs to get rid of her weak doormat self and be mean and rude. Fighting back is not mean in his eyes. He likes it. She just needs to do things he hates. Nichole wasn't sure though she would be able to do it. Many times she has told herself to stay strong in front of him but always ends up breaking down at some point, whether it is in tears or in anger and violence. Either way he wins, since he loves them both.

"Nichole I am going to give you a valuable lesson today. Be sure to pay attention. Alright now, sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Now we both know you to be a very smart woman, as evident by your sneakiness and your ability to know without really knowing what makes me giggle with humor. So as you can see there is no need for that. I myself do not partake in that form of wit, as I do not need it." He ran his fingers through his hair forward, the green and dirty blonde clumps looking awkward against his makeup less skin.

Nichole said nothing, utterly defeated by the Joker. People tend to think he is not really a smart man and just a wacko in clown makeup, but honestly Nichole came to realize that he was the smartest and cleverest man she ever has known in her life. This of course was very very bad. She thought before she ever was in the same room as him six months ago, that he was just a brain of an operation, but he is also physically a fighter if he wanted to be. Against her and many others he is more powerful, but against Batman true he would not win. But there was no Batman here to fight off the evil monsters in her closet. She had to face them head on.

Looking satisfied with his win, the Joker said "Since I have the day off, I think it's only custom to start it off with a gift." He grinned, leaving the room momentarily, making no signs at all that he wanted Nichole to follow him.

Nichole slowly got up from her huddled position, still holding the robe shut tightly fearing he would jump in and attack at a moment's notice. She pondered what the hell this gift could be. He had already given her enough for her life thank you very much.

She wanted to strangle herself with the robe's belt as soon as he entered the room again. In his hand was something she could recognize, from a mile away. He held in both hands her Candy costume. The black one piece, with a red skirt towards the bottom. It looked crumpled and as if it had not been ironed in quite some time.

Faintly, she could hear Candy cackle in the back of her mind.

"Where....Where did you get that?" Was all Nichole could say, as she did remember that the police found her in the outfit. The police would have then discarded it into an evidence file at the station, leaving it out of the Joker's grasp.

Candy herself giggled in Nichole's mind._ Well well well....finally you have an outfit that actually does you justice Nikki._

She gulped as he got closer, every detail of the outfit now coming into view. From the two golden lines going down the front of the one piece, to the small candy canes that dangled off of the skirt's bottom hand sewn on by Nichole in the back of the van the Joker had allowed her to use when she went shopping for the said outfit. The white at the top and sleeves had some brown patches of dirt on it. She figured it had not been washed while it was in evidence.

The Joker swished it in the air; as if it was an old rug he found in the attic and was airing out. "This ole thing?" He laughed. "Let's just say I still have my men in Gotham's so called trustworthy police department. I requested specifically for this to be found and taken out of the evidence room. No one will notice, until Gotham's police force is under attack and being sued. Course then they will want to pull out the file they have on you and that case, but loathe and behold it won't be found. Only further proving how bad they are at running order and laws throughout this city. Besides this outfit has more uses. I am a man of recycling. I use things till they are useless and need to be disposed of properly." the way he said that, made Nichole think he was talking about not just the outfit, but herself too.

He threw her the outfit roughly, Nichole barely managing to catch it and gasping since she was not expecting the black, red, and white blur to come at her so fast.

"I am not giving you the candy cane just yet though...I am not about to turn around and be whacked over the head with it by you. As we both know you like it rough now." He winked, leaving the room once more and returning with his own purple paints, his blue shirt and green vest.

Nichole looked down at the dress then back up to the Joker, like a lost lamb. She knew he wanted her to put it on, but did not want to slip into the dress at all. The laughs of Candy grew louder inside her head as the velvet outfit was in her small hands. She was barely able to hear the Joker say "Put it on."

She remained there though, staring at the dress absently. The Joker could visibly see she was not all there and this raised many questions in his head. She wasn't really acting herself lately.

_Nichole doesn't it feel great? To have it back in your hands? _Candy asked innocently _To have this....This symbol of power. This symbol of your creation! This outfit....this alter ego that young Ariel sees you as. The alter ego the world will soon see you as. Think about your brother? What will he have to say when he sees you on the news once he returns from the war!_

Nichole knew Candy was trying to get her angry, so she could take over Nichole. But she would not give in. She took a deep breath, and was taken out of her thoughts when she heard the Joker speak again.

"Yanno _sweet-heart-tah. _It's very rude to not accept gifts given to you. Especially ones some people went out of their ways to _get-tah_." The Joker narrowed his eyes, his voice rising in anger. He had just finished buttoning his pants up and was slipping on his shirt.

The fact he just called her "sweetheart" made the bile in her stomach rise. "Okay...Okay I'll put it on. But could you-?" She eyed the door.

"Oh no I am staying. You're starting to get guts eh? Trying to give me orders, when we both know I am the one in charge. Besides I am here to enjoy the show. Nothing more." He waved his hands, and then propped himself up on the sinks counter leaning back against the wall, his hands now resting behind his head as he watched Nichole smiling.

She rolled her eyes, turning her back to him as she opened the robe, without taking it off of herself. She heard him scowl in frustration.

_Nope_, Nichole thought, _He is not getting what he wants._

She unzipped the dress and stepped into it, pulling it upwards to her chest. She reached around behind her and up the robe to try and zip it, but found this task to be very difficult. She sighed knowing full well what she had to do.

She turned and faced the Joker, who quickly reached down to put on his green vest and act like he had not just been watching her like a hawk. Nichole glared, removing the robe, thankful that the dress covered her body. All that was not covered was right above her bottom and up in the back, due to the unzipped zipper. "I-I...." She cleared her dry throat. "I need help."

"Yes...Why yes you do. Finally something we can agree on here." The Joker smiled, buttoning his vest up. Nichole glared at him. "Oh oh! You meant with your outfit! Ho Ha ha ha!" he laughed. He knew from the beginning what she meant, but found it rather amusing to mess with her. "Here...I shall _help-pah_ you."

He removed himself from the counter standing up, facing her. He looked down at her ushering her to turn around. She sent another glare at him before slowly making a 180 degree turn. She felt his hands linger by the zipper that was directly above her bottom. He began to pull up very slowly. Nichole could feel his breath on the back of her neck. With his other hand he pushed her hair forward so it would not get caught in the zipper. It sent tingling feelings down her spine as he did this. He zipped all the way up and then brought his hands around her waist, pulling her to him. She felt him rest his head on top of her head, his chin fitting nicely on top of it.

This just proved how short and vulnerable she was, and how he towered over her.

His chest was going up and down faster than normal and Nichole wondered if this was turning him on in some sick way. She tried to lean her upper body forward that was not locked up against him, but he was all over that within seconds. He brought one of the hands around her waist up more to wrap around her chest, pulling her tighter to him. He could feel her heart beat spastically as he moved the hand around her waist up slowly, caressing her covered stomach.

They remained there for what seemed like a few minutes, Nichole feeling very awkward and the Joker staying relatively quiet except for a few sighs or mumbles. Finally he let go and turned her around to face him, by grabbing a hold of one of her shoulder. He pushed her backwards, so he could get a full and nice view of her now in the Candy outfit.

"_Beaaa-uuuu-tiful!_" He nodded. "Oh come now don't look so sad." He stared at her for a few, and then with the hand that was not placed on her shoulder, he snapped his fingers. "Oh! I know what will cheer you up!"

He grinned, wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her against his side. He led her out of the room and out of the bedroom area. They went down the hall and two flights of steps to the first floor. A few men were here and there eating or shining up guns. The Joker shooed the two men that were sitting by the TV away and lightly pushed Nichole onto the sofa. It reeked of spoiled food and dirty socks.

The Joker took the clicker and changed the channel to the 10 am news. "Ah just in time." He sighed leaning back on the sofa, pulling Nichole to him. He forced her to rest her head on his shoulder, and then proceeded to pat her head. "You are going to like this. I guarantee it." He nodded.

"_Breaking news this morning!"_ The reporter said, her voice rose in anger. _"Gotham City police department is now being sued and under investigation, about a school shooting in a town just a half hour outside of it. The reason? It seems a cold case in Gotham, involving the mysterious Candy, a henchwomen sighted with the Joker, months back has been fully uncovered by the FBI. It seems that Candy is actually Nichole Stevens, a Gotham City resident, apparently kidnapped by the Joker over eight months ago at a Bruce Wayne Party. The woman was never originally identified and Gotham police stated she was never found. It is now questioned whether it was a kidnapping or a purposely done plot, as this woman has now been founded and identified as Nichole. _

_Now how may you ask does this tie into the school shooting? Well apparently, after the Joker was caught and sent to Arkam, the Gotham City police department put Nichole under protective custody and sent her to Lakeview, to be a teacher at a public high school. Now first off, if that is not messed up, I do not know what is." _She snarled angrily_. "Sending someone with ties to the Joker to an environment with young teenagers? Ridiculous! Now this information was kept hidden from the students and parents while Nichole was teaching there for just about six months._

_Fast forward to now. The Joker escapes. Apart from this information not being told to us for over a day after he escapes, where do you people think he goes first? That is correct. He goes to the school were Nichole is and starts shooting everyone there, killing countless students, and taking Nichole/Candy with him. It is unknown if she was shooting at children as well. Ariel Wescott, one of the survivors is speaking out soon about the horrors she faced. She was face to face with the Joker and Nichole talking in the same room. The Joker threw her out of a two story window and shot at her many times._

_This brings questions to me and I bet you as well. How trustworthy are the Gotham police department? Hiding this case from us, as they knew right from the beginning Candy was this Nichole woman, and then hid the case from the world. They then harbored a criminal at the school as a teacher. It was a ticking time bomb for when the Joker would escape and cause chaos to the school. It is also being questioned whether Nichole helped the Joker escape as well. All these questions will be answered once she is in custody. _

_But who knows? With this police department, I doubt that the Joker and Candy will ever be in jail again. Eight months ago the Joker had his men on the inside of many Gotham police departments. Who's to say he doesn't have his men in there again?_

_Just how corrupt is Gotham City? More details on this shocking story are yet to be released. But a warning to you all that the Joker, if seen, should not be approached. If you see him, and I do not see why you would not recognize him." _A picture of the Joker came on screen, from a bank security camera. The Joker sighed at the picture thinking it was a horrible one. _"If you see him, call the police immediately and get out of that area. He is extremely dangerous and most likely armed.....In the weather today-"_

The Joker hit the mute button and looked down at Nichole. She had slowly inched her way forward during the whole news report. She was now leaning forward her hands on her knees staring at the screen in utter shock. The Joker had things go smoothly for his plan. She was now a wanted criminal. The city did not know the truth of the matter, but they knew she was Candy. The gig was up. She was not safe if she went out in Gotham City ever again.

The Joker was her only safe place in the city, unless she were to go to jail. This sounded a lot better than being with the Joker. At least in jail there were regular food she could count on to eat and not be drugged by, she would not get raped, and most of all she could be away from the monster that killed all her friends.

New plan of action for Nichole: Somehow get arrested and pray the Joker will not bust her out, if she were to succeed.

It felt like fifty knives were stabbing Nichole on the inside. She wanted to scream. Preferably at the Joker. He was the main source of this pain that she felt.

"Ah...Well that cheered me up. I don't know about you?" the Joker nudged her side. She did not respond. She knew if she opened her mouth she would start cursing at him, and she did not know when she would stop.

"So good that you're speechless?" the Joker clapped his ungloved hands together. "Do I know how to make you happy or what?" He teased, wrapping his arm around her shoulder.

"Don't touch me." She said softly. "This is all your fault…" Her voice wavered while she stared at the ground.

He pressed one finger to her lips. "A ta-ta. I believe I told you not to blame me for **your** crimes. You don't see me blaming you for **my** crimes, now do you?"

"Yeah I do..." Nichole began, but was stopped by a voice in her head. _Nichole you will anger him. He's told you he took today off. Do you think it was all just to stay here with you? Of course not! He is tired and angering a tired man is known by every woman to be a No-No. So quit while you are ahead!_

The Joker glared at her. "....No no go on, don't stop just because I made a face. I am_ dying_ to hear what you have to say."

Nichole flushed, embarrassed by Candy ganging up on her with the Joker, who unknowingly was a part of it. "No....never mind." Nichole then thought of all the students dead, on the floor littering the hallways with blood and guts. That was her fault. She should have said no to working so close to Gotham and working with high schoolers. She was being selfish to put them in danger. It wasn't the Joker's fault. It was hers. "I...I am sorry." Nichole shocked herself saying that, but she knew it was true. She was blaming the sins of hers to him. She could never forgive herself ever.

The Joker could not hide his jaw dropping as she said this. He quickly picked back up his jaw and swallowed. She hit him with a curve ball flat in the face. "You're....sorry?" He asked confused.

"It's....my fault. It's all my fault." She stared at the ground, focusing on his shoe. "I was selfish. I knew you would escape. In my heart I hoped you would not but I knew you would, and yet I took the job as a teacher. I endangered my students and lied to them all about me!" Tears were running down from her eyes at this point. "I....I shot that cop at the bank on that job you had me do when I was with you last time! I helped blow up a building. I did it all! Not you. Not you." She began to cry. She was losing her faith in herself. Maybe Candy was right from the beginning. Candy was the wiser one, as well as the Joker. It was all Nichole's fault....It was....

_No...No its not! No its not! It's the Joker's fault! _Nichole thought to herself, quickly shooing away her depressing thoughts that so suddenly came over her. She was starting to wonder if Candy was able to play tricks on her with her emotions.

"No! You know what?! I am not sorry. I am tired of blaming myself!" Nichole stood up. "This is your fault!" she pointed at him. He responded by taking the finger pointed in his face and grabbing it in between his teeth, biting down firmly.

This took her by shock and she tried to withdraw her hand quickly, rubbing it as a tooth mark appeared on her skin.

"Nichole...I don't know if anyone has ever asked you this, but you know me to be an honest man so I am going to ask no matter what. Did you, while I was gone develop Bi-Polar disease?" He cocked his head at her, being dead serious showing no hint of humor.

Nichole now wanted to speak up. She wanted to say something. She had to. Maybe he would understand what was going on with her head.

She sat down next to him, but kept her distance. "No....I am not Bi-Polar...but I need to tell you something."

"Oh my you sound as if you are telling me a secret! Is it who your high school sweetheart was? Or have you finally decided to give in and tell me I am right again?" He perked his head towards her grinning thinking she was just teasing him.

She shut her eyes, refusing to look at his face, knowing very well if she were to look into his eyes as she spoke, he would cause her to choke on her own words.

"Something happened, after you killed Tom. Something I can't even explain fully myself." Nichole started.

_Nichole...stop. RIGHT NOW! Shut up! _Candy yelled in her head.

Nichole ignored Candy, her eyes still shut, but she could feel the Joker's on her. "It was like Candy....is..."

_NO! NO! NICHOLE shut up! I will rip your tongue out! Shut up!_

"Candy is my split personality." Nichole stated, opening her eyes expecting the Joker to laugh.

But he did not laugh; he tapped his chin and pulled out his knife that was hidden in his vest pocket. "Nikki, Nikki Nikki......I do not like two of you. Sorry but you are going to have to go."

He stabbed the knife into her stomach forcefully and Nichole screamed bloody murder.

Nichole was pulled from her daydream of what it would be like if she told the Joker about her spilt personality, with the Joker repeating himself. "Well are you Bi-Polar? It's not a bad thing; it's just something I'd like to know."

For the past moment, Nichole had played out in her head what the Joker might do if he were to find out she was having this issue with Candy. She decided it would be best if she did not tell him. "No....No I am not Bi-Polar...I am just confused." She glared at him. "It's due to you that I am confused I hope you know that." She sat back down next to him, but kept her distance.

_You do know.... _Candy spoke to her, in Nichole's mind. _That, that little daydream you just had is definitely not how he would react. I am sure he'd love to meet me more....up close and personal. So why don't you let him? But not now...Not yet._

He nodded. "Oh yes. Yes I do Nichole, but you're just too much fun-nah to mess with." He licked his lips "It's like a hobby, you could say. I invest a lot of time into that hobby too Nikki. But oh, it's worth _it-tah_." He licked his lips.

The Joker shut the TV off, standing up stretching his arms out wide, groaning. "Ugh, yanno my back really does hurt." He winked at her slyly.

"Ugh...you're despicable." She whispered, seething with rage.

"And my hearing is just fine, to let you know. Honestly what is up with you people and talking about me right in front of me acting as if I am not able to hear you? You should have seen how many people at Arkam talked about me while they were three feet in front of me to other guards' saying such negative things acting like I was deaf. The rudeness of people these days. Just absurd." The Joker made a "Tsk" noise a few times, before eyeing the kitchen area for food.

"Is my Candy hungry?" He asked titling his head towards the kitchen.

Nichole sighed, deciding not to take the "Be a hero and go on a hunger strike" route and nodded her head yes. She knew that resisting him would be futile. She stood up following him to the kitchen and dining area of the office. He took an arm and ran it on the dining table, making all the old dirty plates, scrap food, and poker chips go flying across the floor. He pulled out a chair, in a mocking gentlemen way, and pointed at it standing behind it smiling.

Nichole hesitantly sat down. The Joker pushed her chair in, and walked over to the cabinets pulling out a box of Honey Nut Cheerios. He sat in the chair next to Nichole, propping it on the table top. He looked at the box idly, Nichole noticing honestly how tired he did look, as his makeup was off and the circles under his eyes were vibrant.

He placed his hand in the box and pulled out a large chunk of cereal, gobbling it down like a beast. Nichole was disgusted in his eating pattern. He again raised an eyebrow at her.

"What? It's good for the heart." He pointed at the box where it said "Lowers Cholesterol."

She sighed, lightly banging her head on the table. He never was going to be serious with her.

_Actually, Nichole, he has been serious with you mannnyyyy times_. Candy said. _Maybe you just don't notice...Hehe_

She felt something on the back of her head, raining down like small droplets. She raised her head to see the Joker straightening up in his seat acting innocent and as if nothing at all happened. He stared at the Cheerios in his hand before tipping his head back and letting them slide into his mouth. She reached back and felt Cheerios on her head. He looked at her in the corner of his eye, his laugh being mumbled by the food in his mouth.

"Eat up or you'll starve." He stated. "And don't play with your food. Do you have manner issues as well?" He sighed, hiding his laughter in a cough.

She shook her hair getting the scrap food out and then stared at the box in his hands, feeling like asking him for it would anger him. He extended his hand with the cereal box, tilted downward. Nichole opened both her hands and placed them side by side as if she was begging for food from the Joker. He must have intentionally made it seem like this position, since he did love power and something as simple as Nichole looking like a lost puppy begging and banging on doorsteps for spare food, was very pleasing to him.

He poured her a few handfuls of cereal and she ate then up very quickly, not willing to allow him any time to slap her hand and send the food scattering across the ground. He would then likely force her to pick every last one of them up, so she could not allow this.

_Nichole....Nichole...Why are you not listening to me Nichole? _Candy asked. _I've been saying for the past few minutes, about the fact if you eat all that food you will gain weight. After all you are a tad bit over weight darling. Packing on those pounds are you now?_

Nichole knew that Candy was just trying to anger her, because Nichole was far from overweight even though she was voluptuous; she was underweight. All the stress had made her barely eat when she was out of the Joker's reach and now that she was in his grasp, she regretted not being overweight. Maybe she could survive off her fat then and not be a weak little minx tightly being pulled by the collar.

Candy kept going on and on saying insults to Nichole trying to bring her down. Nichole knew that the comments were starting to get to her Candy was getting stronger. Nichole's hand at one point was moving slowly towards the Joker's leg under the table, and she wasn't meaning to do this at all. Thankfully since it was under the table the Joker did not notice, her shaking hand desperately trying to be pulled backwards towards her own lap.

She had to get her mind off of Candy's voice. The Joker was being too quiet as he ate to distract her. It was time for her to do something she would hate. Strike up a conversation with him.

"How...Did you escape from Arkam Asylum....and why did the police not notify people until a day after you were free?" Nichole asked softly, trying to act as if she was asking because she wanted to know the way he got out, so she could know if it could have been preventable.

He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, then smacking his lips together. "Well let's see." He tapped his chin. Nichole rolled her eyes. _As if he forgot. _Nichole thought irritated.

Candy's yelling began to get louder. _He is just wearing your patience thin Nichole. Embrace it. You know you want to kill him. Take that anger and release it!_

Nichole focused on the Joker, remembering she had to stop listening to Candy. It grew harder and harder though now for some reason. She figured it must have something to do with the fact she was wearing the Candy outfit. Maybe Candy was stronger while she was in the outfit itself. She did remember Candy's voice in her head got louder the moment the dress was in her fingers.

"Well actually about that...maybe to better explain to it to you I should tell you of my time in there." He stood up walking towards the living room, beckoning her to follow. She reluctantly did. The Joker was heading towards the couch, but very suddenly turned around making Nichole stop in her tracks. He stood there right in front of her towering over her. He smiled maliciously, making Nichole think he was not going to answer her question.

She suddenly got the faint smell of blood and sweat, realizing it was coming from her. She had not showered since the school shooting. She had the blood of her own, her students and the sweat of the Joker all on her. She felt disgusting and had the urge to throw up.

Sighing on the inside, she got the guts to ask him another question, but this one more quietly than the last one. "Can I please...take a shower?"

A shower meant two things to Nichole: washing away the grim and dirt, and being away from the Joker long enough to get Candy under control.

The Joker raised an eyebrow clearly amused by her question. "That sounds like a great idea!" He chimed. "Do you prefer hot showers or cold?" He grinned, as Nichole gasped at what he was suggesting.

Him taking a shower… **with** her.

_OH YEAH BABY! Let's do it! Come on Nichole say yes! Say YESSSS! _Candy screamed excitedly in Nichole's head. This was the most excited she had ever heard Candy ever.

The Joker wrapped his arms around Nichole's back bringing her into a bone crushing hug. Nichole kept her arms up by her chest, which was a big mistake as they were being crushed into her breasts, which were already sore from last night's ordeal.

"Nichole you amuse me, yanno that? Coming up with such wonderful ideas.." The Joker whispered to her.

Nichole did not want to have to be in that situation with him. It was already bad enough being raped and humiliated by him. But in a shower, she would be completely nakedly exposed for a long amount of time. All the while, he would be there, staring at every inch of her body. Feeling her and washing her. She shuddered with disgust.

_Nichole if you don't say yes I will never forgive you! Now say YES-SAH! _Candy yelled.

Nichole could not control her mouth start to open, her vocal cords urging her to say "yes" but nothing more than the sound of her making a snake "sssssss" noise came out. She started shaking as every bone in her body hurt, not from the hug, but from Candy trying to make her muscles and voice do her every bidding. Thankfully, he continued his story.

"Nichole I was rather lonely in Arkam. Day after day in a cell staring at the wall. No human contact except for me seeing a hand sliding food under my door, or hearing people talk about me right outside my door. And once a month when they would come in and clean my cell. They even set a shower in my room, because they didn't want to deal with me. You know what I thought about for that whole time? Apart from ways to get back at everyone of course. It was you. I was wondering how you were holding up. After all it must have been _killing_ you to be away from me for so long. I know it hurt me." He giggled in her hair, pressing his lips down on the top of head to muffle it. "No human contact at all though. No touching, talking, nothing. I am surprised I remained sane."

Nichole started shaking more, unnoticed by the Joker. Candy was laughing inside her head. _Funny how he could remain sane, with no human contact for months, and yet you here have a ton of human contact and you go....berserk-kah! HA! _

She felt her knees buckling.

"And then," he continued, "When I was able to trick that janitor into thinking I was harmless, by pretending to be sleeping when he was cleaning. He had his back turned and I just went in for the kill. I had unlocked my straight jacket long time before then, so I was dying to see if I could strangle someone with it." He laughed more. "Well then I took his clothes and put them on, hiding my own clothes in the janitor supplies. I walked right on out Nichole; no one even suspected a thing. How the people in our world are so unobservant eh? Heh, well it was a good thing too."

The Joker looked down at her and finally saw that she was shaking. He laughed thinking it was due to him hugging her tightly at the moment, and the plan he was suggesting they take part in.

"I know you don't want to right now." His voice rose, as his amusement did too. He was referring to taking a shower with her. "But you will… sooner or later....so should we just get this over with now or do you want to make me anxious and wait a few days cause I think if we wait my excitement will build up more and more?"

Nichole, tried with every ounce of energy she had and succeeded at growling in her throat at him. "No. I want to take one alone." She hissed.

The Joker actually got a bit pissed off at that, truly wanting to take one with her, or at least mess with her into thinking she would have to. She was taking everything so seriously at the moment, shaking and what not.

"Have it your way, but you know that I am a man of my word so sooner or later-...." He suddenly grinned again, the edge in his voice leaving. "How about a kiss then... and I'll think about it?"

Nichole was desperate. She was losing all her energy fighting off Candy and knew that if she didn't leave now Candy would be in control and god knows what would happen then. She took a deep breath in. "Alright..." she said weakly.

The Joker was ecstatic as he loosened his grip on her and pushed her back slightly so there was a small space between them. He locked eyes with her, his grin right in her face. Nichole, still shaking, leaned upwards and quickly brought her lips up to his, applying small pressure as she kissed him. She thought it could be over and done with, with a simple peak, but the Joker had other ideas and again wrapped his arms around her back pulling her to him, as he applied pressure onto her lips and broke into a passionate kiss.

His tongue traced the outside of her lips viscously.

It was at that moment, Nichole lost control. She couldn't fight off Candy any longer. She was the weaker of the two at the moment, and could only internally watch as her arms went around the Joker's neck and pulled his face even closer to his. She opened her mouth ramming her tongue into his mouth, returning a passionate kiss.

_Oooohhhh too bad Nichole. I was rooting for you, but I guess you always can't fight that darn Candy off._ Candy told Nichole in her mind sarcastically, and Nichole could hear Candy snapping her fingers in her mind to add to the sarcasm.

Suddenly, Candy took over her body completely, and Nichole, became a distant hum in the back of Candy's mind.

_It's my turn to come out_, Candy thought for Nichole's benefit.

The Joker was in complete shock by this act, as Nichole was normally fighting him off. All thoughts of confusion left him, as Candy reached down unbuttoning his vest while continuing to furiously make out with him, as if she would never see him again in her life. Their tongues fought each other roughly.

All this time, Nichole could feel and see everything that was happening but had no control what so ever. Her mouth felt numb and her stomach felt sick. She felt something pressing into her lower thigh as she realized the Joker had been turned on by the act Candy did. She wished she could tell him at this very moment what was really happening. She wanted to tell him now Candy was doing this and not she, for now the Joker had the wrong impression of her.

All of Nichole's thoughts became lost in a distant blur as she felt herself slipping more and more away from Candy's body.

The Joker pushed Candy backwards, holding onto her tightly as he forced her to lean backwards and fall onto the couch. Candy allowed him too and welcomed it with open arms.

Candy could hear Nichole scream "_NO!"_ in the back of her mind.

The Joker crawled on top of her sucking on her bottom lip devouring it whole. Candy ran her hands up and twirled her fingers through his hair seductively, gently pulling. This made the Joker squirm with delight as he ran his tongue over her teeth. Candy giggled softly in his mouth, as this did tickle.

_Nichole, see how much fun this is?_ Candy said to Nichole in her mind.

_NO! IT'S NOT FUN! STOP! _Nichole yelled to Candy, who merely laughed.

_No Nichole I will not stop. Candy has come out to play right now, so sit back, relax, and enjoy the show, because your part of it. Hun be thankful you can feel all this sensation with me. _Candy laughed.

Nichole mentally screamed, but Candy ignored her now, paying all her attention to the Joker.

Candy brought her hands down from his hair and reached down to the hem of his shirt, sliding her hands up in the front of his torso, letting her fingers slip underneath it to raise the shirt up to reveal his stomach. She ran her small hands along his bare chest, circling his stomach area a few times. She could feel his heart beating wildly as he was enjoying this....very much. She could also feel that his skin was hot. Very hot indeed.

So Candy decided to help him lose some heat.

She brought her hands to the bottom of his shirt, while her fingernails drove him crazy as they ran over his skin. As they continued to kiss passionately, rubbing their tongues against one another, she curled her fingers under the hem of his shirt and started to pull it up his sides.

She could feel the Joker smile, as his bare scars that were pressed against her face, lifted.

Before she could pull his shirt over his back, he leaned up so he was straddling her waist and helped her finish the job by reaching back, and pulling his shirt off over his head. Once his shirt fell to the ground by the couch, he laid his body back on hers, wrapping his arms around her as he met her lips into another delicious lustful kiss. Candy giggled playfully as she now traced her hands over his bare back. She shivered as she felt the bumps and bruises her and Nichole caused him. Her hands shook with delight as she felt the deep scratches she, Candy, made on his back.

_My marks_… She thought. _My beautiful marks._

The Joker then became filled with hunger and he placed one hand on her breast, which were still covered by her dress that was still tightly zipped up, squeezing. He did not get his full satisfaction from the leather covering his prize. He brought his hands down to her legs, grabbing at her bare skin bestially and slowly made his way down her smooth leg. He then ran his hand back up her leg, sending goose bumps all over her and a tingle down her spine.

He then reached her upper thigh, and to Nichole's shock and Candy's delight he kept going up further, till his hand was sliding up her dress. His hand grazed over her front, and ran up her stomach before he cupped her bare breast under the leather.

As Candy moaned, Nichole cried as his thumb and finger pinched and slightly twisted her nipple before placing his palm over it, squeezing the big fleshy mound roughly. After giving much attention to her breast for a few moments, he slid his hand from chest, slowly down over her belly.

To Candy's surprise, the Joker hesitated before moving his hand below her stomach.

Candy shuddered with pleasure as she felt the Joker cover her fleshy mound with his hand. The Joker then ran his middle finger over her slick folds before he found her bare, swollen, slit. He rubbed it smoothly in little circles. Candy moaned into his mouth before tangling her fingers into his hair. She found his tongue with hers and led his tongue into her mouth to suck gently.

The Joker, once again became surprised by "Nichole's" newly frisky state and began to rub her clit with his fingers to the speed of her breathing.

Candy could literally feel tears, hot tears, burning behind the skin on her face as poor Nichole cried on the inside in humiliation.

_Please.. Ca- Candy,_ Nichole begged through sobs, _Stop this now…_

_Oh suck it up!_ Candy snapped. _And be quiet I am sick of hearing you crying this whole time when I am trying to enjoy myself!_

A light layer of sweat appeared on Candy's forehead. She then felt the Joker's finger move from her slit, searching for an entrance. He found it when his middle finger rested on her wet sex… and pushed in gently. Candy groaned as she arched her back under him, he still kept his lips fussed to hers. His finger went in deeper before it stopped. He then began moving his finger in a slow in and out motion, deeply into her. After a few seconds, Candy started to sock her hips, slowly, back and forth, meeting his awaiting hand each time, panting into his mouth.

Nichole screamed in pain as Candy moaned in pleasure when the Joker added a second finger inside of her. Not stopping his pace.

Each time the Joker moved his hand, Nichole could feel his hardness rubbing against her thigh.

Nichole lay there, inside of Candy's body, crying and screaming hysterically. She hated this so much. She could not believe this was happening to her and that she could not stop it.

The Joker moaned and growled into Candy's mouth before his mouth released her lips as he ran his tongue down the side of her neck before stopping his mouth to suck wildly on a patch of skin on the left side of her neck. The Joker's hand and Candy's hips did not stop moving together this entire time.

Candy took the newly freedom of her mouth to breathe deeply as she laid there, moaning quietly under the Joker's body. This caused the Joker's pace to come faster. Her breathing was so loud as she felt a fire burning deep inside of her. Her hips rocked faster with his hand, causing her dress to bunch up at the bottom of her waist.

She sunk her teeth into his shoulder seductively.

Nichole's tears of pain and humiliation, turned into tears of hate and rage. She could feel his fingernails inside of her again as he moved his fingers faster. This reminded her of the first time he ever gave her a similar sexual encounter. Also, the extra pain of him sucking roughly on her neck seemed to make her come to herself.

Nichole screamed in her mind again, wanting this to end and wanting it to end now._ Must....take control. I can't let you win. I won't let you win! _Nichole growled in her mind.

Suddenly, Nichole could move herself again and the scream that she thought was in her mind, was actually coming out of her own mouth. Candy was no longer dominant. Nichole took this valuable time to bring her hands away from the Joker's hair and up to his chest. She took him by surprise and pushed him off of her. The Joker almost fell off the couch, as he was not expecting this to happen. He thought Nichole had finally given into him and stopped fighting back.

He took one hand and placed it on her shoulder, holding her down as she began to claw at him trying to get out from under him. His fingers remained in her womanhood, which was not too long ago, open and wanting, now tight and unwelcoming of the intrusion.

Just like Nichole's heart.

The Joker was needless to say....confused. Utterly and hopelessly confused. Here he thought Nichole was liking the experience.

He removed his fingers out of her and brought it up to grab a hold of her hands that managed to scratch his chest violently a few times.

Nichole began to cry in frustration, hating Candy more than the Joker at this very moment. But just for this moment.

The Joker, remained there, looking down at her. "Hey...I was enjoying that-tah...it seemed like you were too, so why the sudden change of heart?" He said while breathing heavily, more than he ever had before.

He brought his legs up so he was on all fours on top of her, his knees pressing into her legs, to keep her down.

"I kissed you," Nichole said frenetically, while closing her eyes, "now can I take a shower please?" Her words choked out as tears went down her face, confusing the Joker even more. She wanted to get away from him. She was embarrassed that she allowed the Joker to touch so intimately willingly.

"Oh you did more than just kiss me." He laughed, as she tried to move her arms back and forth to escape him. "I demand to know what's going on." The tips of his hair tickled her face as he leered down at her.

"You won't believe me!" Nichole screamed, tossing and turning her upper torso to maybe shift him off the couch. She was able to get her hands in front of her chest while she struggled.

"GET OFF OF ME!" She screamed.

"After what you just did I'll believe anything." He said, pinning her hands to her chest, applying so much pressure, to them, that she cried out in pain.

"Okay okay!...Stop and I'll tell you!" Nichole screamed, sobbing.

The Joker stopped applying the pressure, but remained on top of her giving her all his attention.

"I didn't do that just now." Nichole cried.

He tilted his head, not understanding.

"Candy did it." She bit her lip; saying her name even made her tear up now.

"Candy...? As in your outfit?" the Joker licked his lips, looking to the left of Nichole thinking.

"No...Candy is my alter ego." She said, crying hysterically. "Look, something happened. She talks to me in my head. She's another person inside of me. She takes control whenever I am angry, but she's different than me. She's reminds me of you. She talks like you and likes you. All this time down here she has been insulting me in my mind trying to get me to lose my temper, and when I do I am constantly struggling to keep her at bay. But she just won! She overtook me and got to you!"

She looked back at him, glaring. "AND YOU GOT IN ME!" She screamed, as she angrily struggled more. After a time, her face of rage broke in so many places that made the Joker's heart sink.

The Joker's eyes widened as he took in what she just said. Nichole was crying as she said everything, her voice shaken as she spoke. Her words were said very truthfully, and a faint blush of red was on her face as she spoke. She was embarrassed.

"I know what it is" she continued, after calming down slightly. "I am not stupid. It's multiple personality disorder. In health class when I was in high school years ago we learned about it. I know that's what I have. I...am....embarrassed at what just happened. I am so ashamed and disgusted out of my mind! I didn't want it! I didn't want it at all! And she made me!"

The Joker would never admit this to her, but he felt a bit sad on the inside upon hearing this. He truly thought that Nichole was changing and liked him at that moment.

Heck! Even if it was nothing but only a little lust for him, he'd take it and be happy. Anything that would give him the idea that she would be touching him willing as he always does to her, but only for himself. His head felt light when she said those two dreaded words; disgusted, and ashamed.

As much as he hated to admit it, he loved being in control of her pleasure. He would never say it though. He felt more power over her when she moaned at his touch. Moaned! He loved that sound from her. He did not love that sound coming from Candy. He wanted it from Nichole.

It was such an intense moment for her and him in his eyes, but he should have known from the beginning when she kissed him and did more than the simple kiss, that it wasn't her doing it or something bad was up. Nichole would never do that, unless forced. Which she was, apparently by her other personality. It must have showed that he was upset on his face, because Nichole's face showed that she thought he did not believe her.

The Joker did believe her though; he was just upset that he could ever believe for even the slightest moment that Nichole would ever like him.

Who would want a man like him touching her? _Feeling_ her.

"I understand." He sighed. "I know of people with the same_ condition-nah_." He exhaled on her face, taking one finger and wiping the tears away on her face roughly.

The Joker then did something he rarely does. He lied. "And I thought one of you was enough fun. Now two? Boy I am one lucky man eh?" He faked a giggle, looking amused with the situation.

He didn't want Candy. He wanted Nichole. Yes, Candy's little sexual stunt was fun, and turned him on immensely… but if that's what he wanted he could go hire a stripper (If that was even possible!). Messing with Nichole's mind was his idea of fun, and if someone else was stealing his job then he would have the last say in that.

Or so he told himself.

The two remained in that position for a few moments; the Joker on top of her holding her down staring at her with a tilted head, and Nichole sniffling on and off trying to calm herself down and take in what really just happened.

The Joker finally let out another sigh and got off of her standing up straight by the couch, looking down at Nichole. Nichole quickly adjusted her dress in embarrassment. He nodded his head towards the stairwell. He feared that his makeup-less face would show the new painted face of his; emotion.

"You got off lucky today Nichole, but one day soon you won't be so lucky and I will help you partake in the thing you call physical hygiene." He winked at her, as she stood up feeling relieved that she was allowed to take a shower by herself.

She stared at the floor as she started to walk to the stairs, whispering thanks to the Joker. She slowly made her way up the stairs and as she turned the corner to go up the next flight of stairs, she bolted up them, tripping quite a few times due to the sudden weight on her legs. Once in the Joker's room she shut the door and went into the bathroom area, slamming the door just a bit too hard when she got inside. When she looked in the mirror, she let out an ear piercing scream not caring at all if the Joker heard her. In fact she wanted him too.

She dramatically got out of her dress (it taking a good five tries to undo the zipper) and threw it across the tiny bathroom. She glared in disgust at it. "I HATE YOU! I FUCKING HATE YOU CANDY!" She screamed at the dress, knowing perfectly well Candy could hear her in her mind.

It was then, that Nichole saw something pink out of the corner of her eye. She made a big mistake; she turned and looked into the mirror. On the left side of her neck, was a huge red mark from where the Joker sucked on her skin. She froze and took a deep breath to try to stay calm, even as the tears silently escaped from her eyes.

* * *

The Joker sat in his armchair, both his arms resting properly on the armrests to either side of him. His elbows leaned on them, and he brought his hands together cupping in the air. He was staring blankly at the wall opposite of him, the only thing playing in his mind was the distant screams he could hear Nichole yelling upstairs. He rested his mouth on the side of his joined hands that was facing him, smelling them.

The smell of Nichole still graced his hands. It was _intoxicating_ to him.

The screams from Nichole stopped, and he could barely make out the sound of water running through the pipes of the walls, as she had just turned on the shower.

He continued to sit there, the smell of her fading from his finger tips. A twisted smile started to form on his face as he thought of Nichole. He did not think of anything in particular about her or things she did in the past, just herself in general.

He heard more screaming start and managed to make out her screaming "I hate the Joker!"

His smile disappeared instantly and he lowered his hands out of the air. The phrase hitting him hard, but it was to be expected. He really couldn't blame her for hating him.

* * *

She turned and switched the hot water on in the shower. She then relieved herself in the toilet waiting for the water to get warm, feeling sore as she did so.

She stepped into the shower turning it on the warmest setting. The dirt and blood gathered at her feet as it rinsed off of her body. And the sweat of a pig called the Joker; though some of the sweat was hers from the little incident Candy pulled downstairs.

She knew she was going to break soon, but she knew she had to get clean first.

_Come on Nichole,_ she assured herself, _Just get clean and do everything you have to do. Then you can cry and scream all you want._

Nichole shook as she grasped the bar of soap from the side of the tub, and frenetically began scrubbing her body in lather. She quickly put the soap down and reached for the bottle of shampoo and scrubbed it into her scalp furiously.

Her head was ticking like a timer. To her time of break down.

She swallowed as she saw more pools of mud and blood gather at the bottom of the tub from her hair.

She didn't know how she managed it, but all of her body was scrubbed, her hair was clean, and she shaved the parts of her body she usually shaved.

_Now._

Nichole could not stop herself from falling down into a sitting position on the shower tile. The water hitting her face and running down her back made the feeling of disgust go away, but it did not remove the feeling of her feeling dirty as a whole. Here she was again with the Joker, and it was worse than ever.

Nichole cried. She cried for the pain inflicted upon her by the Joker. She cried for the things he did to her and the mind games he played. She cried for Candy and how much she hated that bitch. She cried for her fallen students whose lives were cut short by the malicious man. She cried for Gordon, who would be up to his knees in reporters blaming him for the incident. She cried for Tom, for she knew she would be going to hell when she died. She cried for her dog Atticus who was also taken from her by the Joker eight months ago. And she also cried for her brother, who would most definitely be crushed when he came home to find her not around.

"Candy I hate you! I fucking hate you! Just when I think I have what it takes to know my way to get out of situations with the Joker! Just when I got used to everything and found ways to get around things! YOU COME INTO MY LIFE AND MAKE IT HELL! It was hell before, but you just took it down three levels! I HATE YOU! I HATE THE JOKER!" She screamed as she started punching the shower tiles, causes the scabs on her knuckles to bleed. "Why don't you both just go get married and LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE?!"

And so it goes.

After a while, it dawned on her that the Joker could change his mind at any moment and join her. The paranoid feelings starting overtaking the hate for Candy. She stood up in the shower now, poking her head past the shower curtains. No one was in the bathroom. The Joker had never lied to her before, so why should she not trust him now. To be honest she did not want to be involved in an action like that with him, but she trusted him enough to know he would not go back on his word, even though his word is something bad.

She kept peering out of the shower every few minutes though.....just to be sure.

Once the water started to feel cold, she sighed know she would have to get out unless she wanted to get hypothermia. She grabbed a spare towel she found in the closet and wiped herself off. She was surprised when she found a brush in the bottom shelf. She took it without thought and began to brush the snarls out of her hair. When she was done, she looked from the bathrobe, to the Candy outfit and decided a bathrobe would be much better. She slipped it on and walked in the Joker's room.

It came as a shock to her that the Joker wasn't upstairs in his room waiting for Nichole to come out of the shower to greet her and say something to make her mad. She shrugged it off thankful for these spare moments to herself.

She did not want to go downstairs to find him. If he wanted her he would come to her.

Nichole climbed into the bed, still very tired from the day before and from the event that took place an hour ago. Even though it was about lunchtime, she knew she didn't want to be apart of this reality at the moment.

Laying there with her hair soaking wet, in nothing but a robe, dirty comforters on her and laying in the bed of a madman...she had never felt so cold.

Candy's voice died down in her head, as it had been talking this entire time saying random things or pointing out something in the room she was currently in. Nichole tuned her out focusing on the wall she faced as she laid there.

Eventually the wall became blurry and herself conscious slipped away.

Dreamless sleeping.

Dreamless sleeping.

Dreamless sleeping.

What can be said about it?

Nichole embraces it. Staring at a black darkness as she naps is fine with her.

Anything, as long as she doesn't see the monster's face.

In what felt like only a few moments to her, she felt someone shaking her shoulder a few times. Nichole didn't move or respond. Maybe it would stop if she ignores it. Then the shaking got more violent and Nichole bolted up in the bed.

Perhaps she had been asleep longer then she thought, as it was fairly dark in the room. The Joker, still without make up and now wearing his button up shirt, was kneeling next to the bed a tray in his other hand, staring at Nichole. He tilted his head.

"Heavy sleeper?" He asked amused.

Nichole was going to respond, but it appeared he said that as more of a fact and not a question. She then quickly examined herself, making sure her robe was still on. She sat up in the bed, expecting him to yell at her for lying around while he was downstairs the whole time. Instead he handed her the tray, crawling into the bed next to her, forcing her to scoot over and be next to the wall. Her least favorite place. Being on the side of the bed closest to the wall felt like she was cornered in with no escape.

She looked down at the tray and saw two slices of cheese pizza. The Joker placed the tray on his lap and let his legs go under the covers, his feet almost hanging off the end of the bed.

"My men are throwing a party downstairs...they're happy I am back." He laughed. "So they ordered pizza....Are you going to take it? Or does Candy not like cheese?" He nudged her, trying to lighten the mood. But Nichole was not amused at all.

She sent a glare in his direction remaining still.

The Joker ran his tongue on the inside of her cheek, feeling his scar. "Hey take it easy Nichole I was only...uh joking?"

"It's not funny." She said flatly.

"Well not to you. But to me." He pointed to himself, licking his lips. "To me it's the funniest thing ever. Seriously. Finding out you are a little out there in the head." He tapped his head. "Well it just takes the cake. You have made my week. No no. My year." He patted her head like she was a dog, and then handed her a slice of pizza.

She took it holding back the urge to smack him and tell him not to pat her head. She chewed away on her piece, eating it all up knowing very well that that could be the last piece of food she had in a while. It tasted cold in her mouth and the cheese was so greasy it took away from the tomato sauce.

The Joker remained quiet himself, only sound he was making was him noisily chewing his pizza, crumbs falling from his mouth. And he worried about_ her _table manners?

When they finished the Joker threw the tray to the ground, and took his vest off leaning back on to the bed. When his head hit the pillow he looked up at Nichole, sucking on his bottom lip absently.

"It's not polite to stare." He said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"You should talk." She said to him mocking his tone.

He laughed, grabbing her shoulder with one arm and pushing her down onto the bed. She let out a yelp not expecting this and tried to roll over so she faced the wall and not him.

The Joker was having none of that though. He reached an arm around and tugged at her robe forcing her to squirm. He held on tightly to the robe's knot which was right by her belly button. She brought one hand up and placed it on his tightly, trying to stop him. He tried to pull her backwards so she would be leaning against him, but she fought back.

"I don't want to fucking see your face! Don't you know that I would rather live with my back facing your direction by now?!"

She rocked back and forth many times grunting, her other hand reaching for the wall. They kept this up for a few minutes, until Nichole knew it was of no use.

She stopped moving and the Joker forced her to roll over and now face him. Satisfied she was looking at him he let go of the robe's belt and brought his arm around her waist pulling her in closer to him.

He smiled, his eyes narrowed a bit, looking as if he was tired himself. "I thought we could go to bed early today, as I am sure we both are tired." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down, smacking his lips together. He drummed his fingers on her waist, sending a ticklish feeling down her spine.

"You more than me. I just napped." Nichole whispered.

"Well...you are sleeping for two now." He laughed.

"Will you stop!? Enough of the Candy jokes! This is serious!"

"And what makes you think I am not being serious. After all you are sleeping for two." He grinned.

Nichole scowled, again trying to turn around to face the wall, but the Joker's arm was locked in tightly on her waist.

"Why so eager to turn away from me? Too much to handle?" He joked, snapping his teeth together a few times. "You don't have to answer that Nikki.....or Candy....whoever you at the moment." He snickered.

"Fuck you!"

"Uh oh. Watch out Nichole, you are getting angry. Candy might take control!" He widened his eyes to fake concern, but his laughter escaped his lips right away.

"I should have expected this from you." Nichole muttered.

"When you mumble I can't hear you so what was that?" The Joker tightened his grip on her waist for a brief moment in an almost shaking like fashion. His voice was rising in anger.

"I should have known. Why do you keep on kicking me when I am already fucking down?!" She spat at him.

"I am just enjoying myself Nikki, don't take it personally." He cleared his throat, letting out a sigh. "We can talk about your emotional problems in the morning? Alright." He licked his lips once more, before flashing his yellow teeth in her face.

She rolled her eyes, mumbling an obscurity once more. She shut her eyes, still feeling the Joker's breath on her face and his arm around her.

He took this moment, to lean in (which really he only had to lean in a few inches since their faces were so close together) and place his lips on hers. He let them remain there for about five seconds, before pulling back to see how she would react. Nichole only twitched, keeping her eyes shut to prevent herself from getting angry since she did whenever she would look at his face.

The Joker leaned in once more kissing her again, giving her a few small short kisses, before nestling his face into hers. He rested his forehead on her forehead and sighed, getting comfortable.

After about twenty long minutes, Nichole was asleep again.

The things he learned on his day off were interesting......very interesting. He knew that Candy was going to be more trouble than she was worth.

He stared at her deeply sleeping form for a bit.

He felt the need to check something before he fell asleep.

He leaned his head back, and slowly rolled his sleeping Nichole on her back, making sure she would be comfortable. He was very chary about what he was going to do. He furtively laid the side of his head down over her chest. Her robe was slightly parted, so he could feel some of her smooth warm flesh that wasn't fully covered. His arms wrapped around her body and pulled her closer to him. He remained silent for a few seconds.

Yes. It was still there.

He fell asleep to the consistent, steady sound of that noise.

* * *

**Kait:** This my children is what you call a big ass chapter. No lie. Its HUGE!

**Syd:** We worked hard damn it! _(shakes her fist in the air)_

**Joker:** Heck even i liked it!

***New fan art in profile**


	37. The Trial

**Kait:** So last chapter many of you all got confused on what the Joker was doing while he was laying his head on her chest while she was sleeping. Well I'll clear it up for you all. He was listening to her heart beat and fell asleep listening to it. Sydney, my wonderful beta reader, came up with the idea and I loved it! _(cheers at Sydney)_

**Syd:** Yes! And here is why. You see the Joker is so fascinated by Nichole that he wants to be more in touch with her inner responses than just hearing what she has to scream at him. You all can yell at me if this sounds fluffly, but i guess one of the other reasons he did that was because he wants to know if that is still the Nichole that he is lured to so much. In my opinion the simple act of a man laying his head on a women's chest is such an intimate and terrifying action at the same time. For one thing it leaves her in such a vulnerable position because of what he is exposed to. The other is just a gesture of nuture and the act of trying to reach out to someone. I think what was going through his head was he wanted to know despite of her disorder of having Candy in her body, that this was still the Nichole that he has become so allured to. And if you think about it the only other times that he is near her chest is when he is going to bite or fondle roughly, but this is one of the only times he doesn't do that. _(giggles)_ Sorry for my rambling!

**Joker:** _(looks embarrassed)_ That's a lie...I was just....Just....seeing if i could hear the ocean!! _(nods his head innocently)_

**Kait: **_(glares at the Joker) _Yeah Yeah, you just keep looking innocent. Just wait til in this chapter when you-

**Syd: **_(covers Kait's mouth)_ KAIT! NO! No spoiling it!

* * *

Nichole woke up with a very odd feeling. It felt as if something completely motionless, yet heavy, was laying on her chest. She opened her eyes slowly and peered down to see in utter shock the Joker laying on her chest, his ear pressing into the space between her breasts and the tip of his hair was barely brushing under her chin, sending a ticklish feeling on her skin as she slightly moved her head to gaze at him.

Her heart and breathing began to pick up seeing him like this. It was a very usual position for him, seeing that normally she would wake up with his face only inches from hers, but now he was literally on top of her. She remained there for a moment staring at his sleeping figure. She then looked at the blank space of the bed to the right of her and then back to the Joker. She bit her lip as she tried to shift her body to the right and remove the Joker from her.

She felt one of his arms drop off of her, and then part of his chest. All that remained on her chest was his head, which she knew in order to get off she would have to slide herself completely off the bed or manually pick his head off of her, which would most definitely wake him up. She decided to try to slide off the bed.

Inch by inch she slid. That is, until she felt a hand forcefully wrap around her waist and the Joker grow tense on her. "You're not going anywhere." He stated.

Nichole gasped in fright, all her muscles tensing as well from the complete shock that he was awake. She tried to speak, but choked on her own words.

The Joker raised his head up off her chest and moved his body so he was laying directly on top of her. He now leaned his chin between her breasts and looked up at her face, directly into her eyes. He grinned wickedly at her, a slight curve to his smile.

She finally built the courage up from her stomach. "How...How did you know I was awake? I was being very careful not to wake you." She wanted to sound very polite, so she would not anger him, as his tight grip on her waist had still not ceased.

He licked his lips. It felt very awkward to her when he did this, since his chin was digging into her chest for a brief moment.

"Well I heard the sound of your lovely heartbeat sky rocket when you saw-" he pointed to himself, "this _face-sah_ on you." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down, still smirking.

Nichole scowled silently, realizing what he said to be true. She glared at him. "Why were you laying on me like that?" She asked irritated.

Her eyes then widened.

_Had he done anything to while I was sleeping?!_

Nichole's eyes quickly scanned her body.

The Joker rolled his eyes noticing her action. "Oh please Nichole, I believe I have always made sure you were awake whenever I want to have some fun with you."

"Well your fun isn't fun for me." She spat angrily.

The Joker tensed once more his grin fading for a moment, before reappearing on his face. He leaned in closer to her face as he spoke sending his warm breath onto her face, "Well too bad for you, I like it that way!" He nodded, his eyes looking as if he were squinting at her. "And who says I want it to be fun for you?" His face was amused, but Nichole could see in his eyes he was holding in some anger.

Her face turned to disgust as he leaned closer in. She backed her head up as far as her neck would take her without having to lie down completely. She wanted to keep eye contact with him, fearing he would try something if she looked away even for a moment.

"And let me just say I do have more fun when you fight me Nikki, it makes the experience enjoyable."

_Oh but he seemed to be enjoying himself last night with me._ Candy told Nichole giggling. _Go on Nikki, ask him. Ask about last night and why he looked like he was having the time of his life!_

Nichole looked uncomfortable as she tried to slide her body up into a sitting position, in an attempt to hint to the Joker she wanted him off of her. He obviously got the message, but ignored it just wrapping both arms around her now and locking himself to her like an iron gate. He laid his head back down on her chest acting as if he was going back to sleep.

She felt courageous at the moment and went with her gut feeling. "Can you get off of me...Please?"

The Joker picked his head back up in a heartbeat. "Nichole...again you are pushing it. I have a very thin line of patience and you're walking on the edge, teetering to the bad side of it. You think you are smart to try and get guts and order me around? Well I'll have you know that, that is a big mistake. Look what happened last time you majorly stepped over my patience line."

He took one hand out from around her waist and took a finger stroking her J scar on her right cheek softly. He smiled at it; his mouth slightly open as he traced the rigid texture of it.

"S-s-stop." Nichole whispered. Whenever he would touch her scars she would feel very sick to her stomach, knowing that he was the cause of them. Her chest heaved as her breaths got deeper.

He did not listen to her though and continued to outline the corrupted layer of skin she held on her face, only laughing more as she quivered her lip involuntarily.

He leaned in closer; his lips inches from hers. He lingered there, feeling Nichole tense more than she already was and lean all her weight away from him. He chuckled sending a burst of warm air at her, causing her to flinch. He leaned away not bothering to kiss her, but just to make her feel uncomfortable and give her the feeling of weakness. A feeling he loved others to have.

She decided to change the subject in an attempt to divert his attention away from her scar, "Why were you laying on me like that?" She asked again. This time she was really curious.

The Joker ignored her question completely; feeling like his answer would raise too many questions. Questions he himself could not answer.

Nichole felt a sigh of relief sweep over her as he pulled away. It was too early for her to deal with his sort of tricks at the moment.

The Joker suddenly pushed himself off of Nichole and stood up next to the bed stretching his arms out wide with a groan.

"Well we better get a move on. The day isn't going to wait for us to get out of bed to begin." He glanced over at a small digital clock in the room. "And it seems you have wrecked my sleeping patterns. Normally I am up much earlier, but you just make that bed so much more comfortable."

"If I wreck your sleeping patterns, I'll sleep on the floor." Nichole suggested irritably. This morning she was pissed off. Namely from the things that happened yesterday and by the fact the Joker was cracking jokes about it last night. It struck a fine nerve in her and now that nerve was lashing out by any means necessary. Nichole knew if she kept this up, she would end up with another bruise on her face for he would surely punch her.

The Joker stopped mid-stretch and stared at her with his eyes wide. Clearly he was not expecting her to be this annoying already in the day, and not just annoying but pretty much asking him to hit her upside the head until she shuts her mouth. He figured either she wasn't caring about herself at the moment, or she was being serious. He went with the first choice.

He placed a fake grin on his face, trying to lighten the mood. "Oh ho ho, but you see Nichole then there would be no fun at all. None at all. I enjoyed myself this morning for that hour or two laying there while you slept."

"You were laying like that for two hours?" Nichole asked, shocked and disgusted.

He shrugged. "Is there a problem with that?" He sent his dark eyes directly into hers; causing the smart ass remark she was going to say completely disappeared from her mind.

"N-No." She shook her head, blushing at how weak she sounded at the moment.

"Good-dah....Then we are going downstairs to get something to eat so you won't be passing out from what we are doing today."

"What are we-?" Nichole began, but the Joker interrupted.

"Something that involves a lot of lime-light for both of us. After all I need to do something to Gotham City, as I am sure they have missed me dearly."

Nichole glanced at the Candy outfit which was piled in the bathroom's threshold. A shiver ran down her spine.

He shook his head, noticing what she was looking at. "Don't want to get it dirty now do we?" He lifted his head, smiling and raising both eyebrows.

Nichole merely nodded, feeling happy to not have to put on that cursed outfit of hers. The Joker blinked at her as she stood up off the bed herself, clutching the robe to her tightly out of habit.

"But you know, I really don't want you to get that robe dirty either." He stated, narrowing his eyes. That glint of danger reappeared in his eyes fully.

She tightened her hold on the robe, flinching at what he was suggesting.

He sighed seeing that this was going nowhere he wanted it to go, and threw his hands up. "I am just kidding Nikki. Taking things too seriously like always. Lighten up! Now let's go and get something to eat before I come over there and change my mind about the robe thing and mean it seriously." He nodded at Nichole as his last sentence settled into her and a face of disgust appeared on her paled face.

Opening the door to the hallway he smacked his lips together. He glanced back at Nichole and tapped his foot. "Well....come on!"

Nichole stepped forward, near the door and him. He did not move, wanting her to exit first. She stared at the floor as she walked past him into the hallway, feeling his eyes all over her. She tightened her hold on herself, basically hugging herself at this point, not wanting to give him even the slightest bit of advantage.

She heard the door shut and his footsteps getting closer to her. Deciding not to wait for him to be by her side she kept walking, increasing her pace as his did too. Finally downstairs, it took him a few seconds to be by her side. He continued walking into the kitchen where he scanned the room looking for something to eat.

Nichole sat down at the table silently as the Joker brought over the same box of cereal they had yesterday. He dramatically placed it on the table, sitting next to Nichole. He placed his hands on his knees and stared at Nichole tilting his head.

She felt his gaze on her yet again and looked up. "What?"

He leaned in closer staring at a spot directly underneath her chin, which was a complete shock to her as to why he would be. It suddenly hit her on what he could be looking at, but it was too late.

He reached forward grabbing a hold of the small silver chain around her neck, pulling the necklace out from under the robe so he could see the half moon charm at the end of it. He traced the charm, sending fog on the silver from his breath. Nichole's eyes widened at this and panic was sent through all her bones.

_Nichole. I told you to hide it! What did I tell you? He'd find it! Now you have no idea what he is going to do with it!_ Candy laughed. _Just....Just don't tell him of its importance, because if he knew that it belonged to your mother.....well. He could hold that against you and take it._

"How could I have missed this little-" He faked a cough, "-accessory?" He tugged on it more, causing the chain around the back of her neck to dig into her skin. He found this very amusing as he could tell the necklace held some importance to her since her eyes were on the verge of tears.

"...G-Give it b-back." Nichole demanded, choking on cries of panic.

He scrunched his nose, cracking his neck. "I don't like your tone Nichole. I really don't, so I don't think I will." He tugged harder on it.

Nichole brought her hand up to the chain, on a part he wasn't holding onto. "Let go of it!" She yelled, all fear leaving her voice and anger filling the empty space.

"No." He growled pulling even harder on it, the chain now causing the back of her neck pain.

"Stop! You'll break it!" She screamed, tugging back on it to relieve pressure.

"I'm about to break your hand if you don't stop with this attitude." He grabbed a hold of one of her wrists, from the hand on the chain and tried to twist her wrist painfully.

She yelped, letting go of the necklace to stop him from breaking her wrist. In doing that the necklace's chain broke sending the charm flying across the room and the Joker almost falling backwards in his seat.

She caught her breath watching the moon split in half from the Joker's fingers and the tiny chains links that held it all together scatter into hundreds of pieces and each fall to the mess of the floor. As the final piece fell, so did Nichole's heart. A feeling of hate coursed through her. Her mother's necklace was gone; the only thing she had left of her.

Nichole allowed that anger to overtake her and jumped out of her chair, pouncing on the Joker sending a fist towards the side of his head. "You fucking bastard! I'll kill you!"

The fist collided with the side of his head, sending him, the chair and Nichole backwards slamming against the counter. The Joker taken aback, tried to stand up, but Nichole kicked him in the stomach to get herself off of his lap (as she landed on it when she attacked him) knocking the wind out of him. He choked, grabbing his stomach, as Nichole run at him again ready to punch at his face.

The Joker sucked in a bunch of air, and deflected her punch by bringing up his arm. This sent her fist into her shoulder, bruising the bones under his furious skin.

"I hate you! I fucking hate you! You're the worst person in the entire world!" She screamed as she kicked at him in the legs. Originally she was aiming to kick him between the legs, but her anger caused her accuracy to go down. "You are the most selfish, hurtful thing I ever have had the disgrace to know! You're not even a person; you're a fucking MONSTER! I'd rather die than be around you! You only care about yourself! You cause me so much pain and don't even care! You LOVE it! You are a heartless asshole! Burn in fucking hell!"

The Joker, now in rage himself, took a hold of her foot and flung her off of him. He stormed over to her and grabbed her by the neck, choking her. "Shut your mouth!" He hissed.

She bit down on his hand for once, causing him to shake his hold on her. This gave her the time to kick him in the knee and send a punch at his chest. "NO! I won't shut up! Stop telling me what to do! You don't own me! I own me! Every day I am with you I just want to fucking kill you! I'd rather live on the streets than live with you! At least I wouldn't get hurt there!"

The Joker, let out all his anger. Many times he had been placed in a situation with Nichole where he would hit her in anger, but never give the full blow. The only time he lost his cool was when he carved the J in her face, but that was different.

His hard fist collided into her jaw while he let out a growl of rage.

Nichole was sent flying backwards to the floor from the impact. She cried out in intense pain as she brought a hand up to her jaw screaming. It felt as if he dislocated it. The Joker could see the bruise already forming on the spot and smiled.

But he wasn't done punishing his little eye candy.

With a swift motion he took off the belt from around his waist, shoved his foot on her stomach and swung the belt at her; the metal buckle taking the hit.

The warehouse was filled with Nichole's piercing screams of pure agony.

She screamed covering her face with her arms. She screamed more and more when her arms and sides began taking the blows of the dangerous biting metal. She then managed to roll out from under his foot that was crushing her stomach and began to crawl away in desperation, still covering her face. The Joker then began swinging his belt in rage, the searing pain of the metal hitting almost every inch of her back.

She then went into a fetal position on the ground swaying side to side in pain, screaming as he continued to beat her with the metal of his belt. Each wound he inflicted immediately swelled into a welt and distort in color. She kicked at the floor in rage, the pain causing her vision to become distort.

After about thirty more seconds of this, she felt the Joker grab her by the arm, that was holding her face and pull on her. He dragged her out of the room. Her arms developed rug burn as he dragged her into the living room and then out of the house. She cried out for help once she could tell she was outside, but he just shook her arm, causing the hand on her jaw to shake which in turn caused more pain.

"STOP!" She screamed, but it came out all wrong and slurred.

He heard her, but he did not care. Too much anger was inside of him to care.

Screw that! He wasn't even capable to "care."

Or so he showed he was not able to.

He wanted to release his anger by any means necessary, and the new plan forming in his head was his best yet, in his opinion.

He dragged her over to his van, pulling the back door open. He picked her up by the arm and threw her inside. She hit the window on the other side of the seats hard. She continued to scream from her jaw, welts, and the newly formed burns and cuts forming from being dragged over rug and cement.

He slammed the door harder than he should have and then walked over to the driver's seat, roaring the car's engine to life and speeding off. He drove recklessly down the streets, not paying any attention to traffic or street lights. His anger was driving him.

Nichole rolled around in the seats, digging at the seats with her fingernails feeling such an intense amount of pain she couldn't stand it. The tears rolled down her face nonstop and eventually she rolled over so much she fell to the car floor. Landing on her back, she held her face breathing out heavily groaning. The Joker let her sounds of pain fuel his fire and rage. He turned a sharp corner causing Nichole to slide into the back of the driver's seat.

They drove for a few more moments, before the van stopped. Nichole was able to see by now, but her tears made her vision blurry.

The Joker climbed into the backseat and yanked Nichole up. He opened the van door and shoved Nichole outside of the van. The back of her head cracked as it hit the hard sidewalk. She heard the sound of cars moving about and people chatting.

She looked up at the Joker in her blurry vision. He was still in the van and shoving her legs out of the vehicle. He waved at her glaring. "If this is what you want, to live out on the streets, then have it." He hissed, his anger still clearly in his voice. "You will see things my way soon enough, my little Nikki..."

And with that, he slammed the van door shut and climbed into the front, speeding off down the road leaving Nichole behind in the alley way that was in the middle of Gotham City.

It took her a good minute to stand up, her whole body feeling weak. She took her hand finally off of her bruised face and looked down at herself. She cursed as she was still in the white bathrobe which was now turning slightly red here and there due to her cuts, scrapes and the wounds which bled from his belt.

A gasp made her turn around suddenly. There stood a couple cutting down the alley way as a short cut. They looked at Nichole, with mouths hung open.

"...Oh my god it's her." The women said to her husband who was in just as much shock upon seeing Nichole.

"It's Nichole that women who shot that school up.....Candy...She...works for the Joker." The women continued. "...Let's just turn around right now...." Her voice picked up a fearful tone.

The husband stood in front of his wife, as a protecting gesture. "Help!" He yelled. "It's a wanted criminal over here! Officers!"

Nichole panicked and ran the opposite direction of the couple. Broken glass and tiny rocks cut the bottom of her feet. She regretted where she ended up. An open street filled with citizens heading off to work with their morning coffees. When Nichole stumbled on to the sidewalk, nearly everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her.

Apart from the J scar on her face, the fact she was in a bathrobe really stuck out. Another thing that made her stand out was the dozens of wanted posters lining the streets with her and the Joker's pictures on them. She spun around in a circle taking in everyone's shocked and angered faces. The world was spinning around her.

A piece of paper hit her in the head. She caught it in midair and opened the crinkled mess seeing it was her wanted poster up close. It held two pictures, one of her as her normal self and the other of her in the Candy makeup and outfit. She screamed throwing the paper to the ground and took off in a sprint down the street.

As she passed by people, some started chasing her; others threw soda cans and rocks at her in disgust. Others yelled out insults and obscurities to her.

"You killed children you bitch!"  
"I'll kill you myself! The Joker killed my friend and you work with him?!"  
"You disgusting piece of trash, I hate to be breathing the same air as whores like you!"

Nichole broke down in tears as she ran. She felt so alone and lost in the world. No one understood her and the pain she went through. She was the innocent one in the situation and yet everyone cast her out as public enemy number two.

Her legs gave out as she fell to the ground. She felt someone grab a hold of her wrist and stick something to them. Through her tears she could see it was a police officer. He roughly picked her up by the arm and led her to the back of his police cruiser. After shoving her inside, he slammed the door shut and got to the driver's seat.

Nichole could also see there was another officer in the passenger seat saying excitedly into his radio, "We got her! We got Candy! The one that works with the Joker!"

She leaned her head on the window, looking outside at the crowd of angry people yelling at her. Even though she was in the car, people still threw trash and food at her hitting the window with force and rage. One even went up to the window and flipped her off and then banged on the glass, before another officer held him back. Had the officer not, he would have surely been able to break through the glass and attack her.

Nichole continued to stare out the window as the car started moving forward. Her tears falling faster, thinking about what caused everyone to hate her so much.

_They all think I am a criminal....I...I just want my life back._ She thought to herself in tears. _If only they understood...If only they knew the truth._

The cruiser pulled up to the station quickly, officers already waiting by Nichole's door to lead her inside. She was patted down and given an orange jumpsuit; one that criminals would wear. The vibrant orange that marked her for what she was in the eyes of everyone.

A mass child murdering woman, who was the Joker's criminal partner, was all she was now viewed as.

As soon as she stripped down, the police officers hurled hurtful comments at all the hickeys on her chest. They didn't even seem to notice the bleeding purple welts that covered her back and sides. She placed the suit on herself slowly, as her wounds were hurting her so much she could barely move. One officer pushed her roughly on her back, yelling for her to hurry up.

She gasped at him. "You're not allowed to lay a hand on me. It's against the law." She stated glaring at him. "My rights say-"

He smirked wickedly at her, interrupting her speaking. "Well, now. Isn't that something? Mark get a load of this." He beckoned over his partner next to him. "The criminal is shocked that I am not following the laws and regulations of loading in new prisoners. Ain't it funny someone who never follows the law herself is trying to get me too?"

Mark laughed. "She's got a wild imagination this one." He patted the officer on the shoulder before returning to his post.

The officer glared at Nichole who had stopped what she was doing to listen to them say those hurtful things. "I didn't tell you to stand there, get dressed you piece of filth!" He pushed her once more, his hand pressing on one of the welts on her shoulder.

She got the outfit on completely, fighting back the tears that formed by her eyelids. She realized she wasn't truly safe in jail either. The way the officers treated "criminals" were against the laws and humanly unethical. But she figured they all thought she was unethical as well. She prayed she would get out of this mess soon and everything would be cleared up.

She was then placed in a single cell by herself, like the one she had been placed in with the Joker in the first few days of being in his hold. Many people would pass by her cell, looking inside at her and pointing. They would whisper things about her. Hurtful things.

At one moment a couple of secretaries walked by her and muttered to one another, "Murderer."

Nichole lost it and ran up to the bars clinging to them screaming. "I am not a murderer! I didn't do anything! This is all a big mistake!"

Of course upon doing that she was ordered to back away from the bars, and she retreated back to the single bench. There she sat for hours upon hours staring at the floor, the busy clatter around her not fazing her at all. She started to wonder why the Joker would just let her go that easily. After all he had done to get her, and yesterday's events that caused him to take an even more interest in her, why would he let her go? It didn't matter. She'd rather be here than with the Joker any day.

She cried and cried. "Why doesn't anyone believe me?!"

That night, when most of the works of the station had gone home, a team of about ten armed S.W.A.T team members remained around Nichole's cell. She figured they were waiting around trying to make sure she would not escape, or the Joker would not come and try and bust her out.

Nichole laid herself down on the wooden bench, hugging her arms to herself tightly. The orange outfit was uncomfortable and loose, causing her to become extremely cold. She dared once to ask for a blanket, but the S.W.A.T team ignored her completely. Her stomach growled, as she realized once her nerves disappeared, she had not been fed. She gave up on asking them for food, knowing what there answer would be already. She knew this to be very illegal, for them not to supply her with her basic needs, but one thing stopped her from pestering them by stating the law.

Commissioner Gordon.

Nichole knew that soon enough she would see Gordon and he would explain everything to everyone. He was on Nichole's side and told her before he believed her, so she knew that once Gordon was with her the real story would be said and allowed to be said by her.

The night pasted by slowly. Nichole's mind was buzzing with thoughts and sadness.

_Stay positive Nichole...Gordon will fix everything. He knows you are telling the truth. He knows you didn't do anything._ Nichole told herself.

_That's exactly it Nichole. You didn't do anything! You let your students die! It's your fault by the way they are dead! So really they aren't blaming you for a crime you did not commit, because girl you did commit it._Candy made a "tsk" noise before erupting in laughter, plainly teasing Nichole.

_Nobody asked you Candy!_ Nichole shouted to Candy, before trying her best to fall asleep. The distant mumble of the S.W.A.T members chatting could be heard by her.

Something was still bugging her. She still wondered why the Joker would just straight up leave her on the side of the road, knowing very well that she would be arrested. She sat up briefly looking around the room. Some of the S.W.A.T members noticed her movement and glanced at her, before returning their absent gaze to the various doorways and windows of the room.

She searched the room looking at every single S.W.A.T member to make sure that none of them were the Joker himself. She could not shake the feeling he was up to something. Slight panic overtook her as she laid back down, staring at the ceiling. Her back was killing her at the moment, as the wood was very uncomfortable against her bruises.

_It doesn't make any sense. He took all that time to get me and now he lets me go?_ Nichole thought as she shut her eyes.

_Isn't it obvious?_ Candy chimed._ You pissed him off. BIG time. I never saw him as mad._ She laughed momentarily. _Well except for that time he carved your face with that J! But i have to say you were asking for it. Letting your mouth run so loosely. Tsk. Tsk. Shame on you Nichole. Shame on you. I wonder if you'll get the death sentence. I hope so you deserve it._

"SHUT UP!" Nichole yelled out loud, causing everyone in the room to stare at her. She blushed, muttering sorry and laid back down.

_Great...They all think I'm crazy. THANKS A BUNCH!_ Nichole told Candy.

_Oh hun. You should know. Everyone already thinks you are crazy!_ Candy told her, in a deep serious tone of voice. And that was the last thing Nichole remembered hearing before she went to sleep herself.

The next morning Nichole felt someone grabbing her arm to wake her up. She lifted her head, which was now hurting a lot from sleeping on the bench. She gasped and nearly broke down into tears, seeing it was Gordon.

She sat up and rushed into a tight embrace with him, crying helplessly into his shoulder. She did not even care about the amount of pain hugging him caused her, it was worth it. It felt like her guardian angel had finally arrived. He hugged her back briefly, before letting go of her and taking hold of her arm leading her out of the cell.

"We haven't got much time. The judge has ordered that this case is of increasing importance and pushed a trial to today. Nichole, I just need you to tell them everything..."

"E-E-Everything?" Nichole stuttered.

Gordon nodded leading her down various hallways.

Candy laughed excitedly in Nichole's head. _Oh Nichole! Little does he know that __**I **__will be the one telling the court everything!_

Nichole's eye widened.

Candy was planning on taking over Nichole in the courtroom, when Nichole would be called to the stand.

_No!_ Nichole screamed inside her mind, _I won't let you!_

Nichole had to think fast.

"Gordon no! I can't do that! I can't....If I go on stand the lawyers will try to call me out as a bad person! I will break!"

Gordon interrupted her. "Nichole you can do it, I know you can. Just stick to that plan, and I have the evidence to prove your innocence-"

Nichole grabbed Gordon's arm desperately. She knew that she would have to try to tell him about Candy in the little amount of time they had.

Her eyes glistened in tears. "You don't understand!" Nichole sobbed. She felt so helpless. "She will take over!"

There. She said it.

Gordon stopped right into his tracks and turned to face Nichole. He looked at her dumbfounded.

"Nichole?" he asked, "What are you talking about? Who will take over?"

Nichole just stood there, crying.

_I can't tell him, I can't tell him! He won't believe me!_

She feared if she told him everything, he would think she was just as crazy as everyone made her out to be. She feared he would abandon her and switch sides, throwing away all the evidence that would help her. She wanted him to remain on her side, for he was not just a helpful police officer, but a good friend. He had been the one to pull her away from the Joker's grasp once, now he had to pull her away from the title of "Enemy", but if she told him about Candy, would he himself throw the title of "Murderer" on her?

_Nichole! You have to tell him! This is your only chance!_

She looked him in the eye, her lips quivering.

"Candy," Nichole answered blushing.

Gordon cocked his head in confusion.

"I know this sounds crazy," Nichole continued rather quickly trying to explain, "But ever since Tom died, Candy has now-"

"GORDON!" came a voice. They both looked over to the left and saw a police officer standing at the end of the hall, impatiently. "She has to be in court right now!"

Gordon sighed and looked at Nichole sadly, before he took her in his arms for a quick second.

"I'll be in the court room. I sent for someone already to drop off the evidence and I hired you a lawyer. His name is Jacob Winer. You're in good hands. Good luck!"

He gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze before running down the hallway yelling for his men, asking when the evidence would get here.

Nichole sighed. Everything was helpless. She knew as soon as she entered the court room all hell would break loose.

She felt someone by her side and glance to her left. A short plump man was next to her. He was balding and sweating very much.

"Hello Nichole, I am Jacob your lawyer. Gordon told me everything and I am very sorry for the situation you're in at the moment. Eh heh as you can see this trial was put together very quickly and so suddenly, I barely had time to get myself dressed this morning." He laughed nervously. His tone of voice worried Nichole.

He sounded as if he believed in Nichole, but knew that in a court of law things said against her looked bad. Very bad.

* * *

"State your name." The judge said into her microphone.

"Ariel Wagner." Ariel said politely into her microphone. She had casts on both arms and one leg. The bruises on her were still vibrant and menacing.

The lawyer not working for Nichole, but working for the entire families of those at the school shooting as well as all in Gotham who ever had came in close contact with Nichole as Candy (mainly the bankers at the robbery she was forced to go at), stood up and strolled over to the jury area pacing back and forth, preparing to swing questions at her. His name was Mr. Andrew Sark.

"Now Ariel. Can you please tell me of the events that happened on the day of December 12th 2008. Exactly two days ago. Please start off by sharing what happened prior to the shooting, in your own words of course."

Ariel tucked her hair behind her ears before speaking. "Well, I went to school. In Nichole's class-"

The judge hit her gravel on her desk. "Hold on. Ariel, would you please identify Nichole in this court room, before stating her name."

"Oh...sorry. She's right there." Ariel pointed to Nichole, sending a glare in her direction.

Nichole sat at a single table with her Jacob by her side. His briefcase was on the table along with two glasses of water for Nichole and him. She drank down two glasses before the trial had even begun since she had not had a drink in a day. Her nerves were high as the trial began, at first it was just simple though. The judge went over the rules of the courtroom and the different lawyer jargon that may be heard throughout the trial. It wasn't until the trial's first key witness Ariel, her beloved former student, went up to the stand that Nichole really got nervous.

"Anyways....Our class was joking around a lot that morning. Nichole mentioned she wasn't feeling that well that morning and let us have study period. When the class was over, I decided to stay a bit longer and talk to Nichole. Then we heard an announcement stating we all were to come down to the auditorium and her and I walked down together."

Mr. Sark tapped his fingers on the jury box banister. "Care to share with us what you the prosecuted talked about with you before hearing the announcement to go down?"

Ariel nodded. "Well first I asked her if it was okay to talk to her about something and she said that would be fine, but she'd have to call down to the main office and tell them she needed a replacement for door watching duty or something like that. Then I told her about a nightmare I had that night....It was...Well it was about the Joker and our class really liked Nichole so we could trust her in telling her that sorta thing. After I told her about my dream and the Joker, she....she passed out. I freaked out and asked if she was okay, and she said she was. And that's when we were called down to the auditorium."

"Did Nichole give any apparent signs to you in class that she knew the Joker, prior to that day? Did she give any signs that she had a connection to him?"

"She never let us talk about him in class. Towards the beginning of the year he was brought up once by someone and she flipped out at us saying never to talk about him in her class. So when I mentioned him to her and she passed out, it did raise my suspicion that her and him were connected in a way, but I didn't know how."

"OBJECTION!" Jacob yelled next to Nichole causing her to jump in her seat. "Your honer, that is an opinion and is speculation."

The judge nodded. "Remove that last sentence from the case please. Continue." She nodded to Mr. Sark.

"Now can you please tell me everything that happened during the assembly and after. I will ask questions on detail after you give a summery." Mr. Sark stated.

"The Joker...he...on stage he kept saying he was here for someone. Of course no one knew what he was talking about. His knife was all I was focusing on. He got mad no one was coming up to the stage, because he kept suggesting the person he was there for knew why he was there. I tried my cell phone, but the connection was lost. He pulled guns out of his jacket and that's when everyone went crazy. We all ran out of the room. When I ran out I got trampled, my ankle broke. Jesse," her voice cracked, "my friend, carried me to the cafeteria. We were in there for about a minute, everyone was screaming so loudly."

Nichole noticed the jury's eyes were building up with tears. It was at that moment she knew that when she was called up she had to do her best to convince them of her innocence. This jury looked like they were about to plead her guilty just because they were sympathizing with the key witness. Ariel.

"All the sudden Nichole was in the room with us. She told us we can't stay where we were, for if we did we would be how she put it..."sitting ducks for the Joker". Which I guess was true, and she told us she had a place she could hide me and Jesse in her room. She picked me up and we ran out of there. After going through hallway after hallway, we ended up with a large group of students in a bathroom locked in, since on the other side of the door were a few of the Joker's men. We all climbed out of the window. Nichole's idea of course. Once in the courtyard we all ran for it. Sadly....Jesse...He was...He was-" Ariel started bursting out into tears. "He was shot and killed. Nichole helped me back up and took me to her room. She hid me in a spare closet area and told me to hide. After about five minutes I heard her screaming and a cruel laughter. I couldn't make out what was being said for I was too scared but I could tell it was him. The Joker was with her at the moment. I hurt my ankle in the hiding spot and....and I made a sound by accident. He heard me because I heard gun shots near me. He was trying to shoot me."

Ariel sniffled and composed herself. "The two said something, or rather he said something and then I saw the door open from my hiding spot. Nichole scooped me up and held me to her tightly. She placed me by the teacher desk and starting talking to the Joker acting like she didn't want me to die. I couldn't see her face, though her back was turned to me so I couldn't tell if she was being honest. All I know is then they fought more, and he ripped off fake skin on her cheek, revealing a J scar. It was at that moment I knew she was Candy. I had looked up about Candy and the Joker the night before. Then it was said that she works for him and then he...and she....They....touched each other. He was messing around with her shirt and...i couldn't see what she was doing but I think she was messing around with his chest and." She sniffled again reaching for a tissue. "I'm sorry I-"

Mr. Sark gave a hopeful smile to her. "It's okay. Take your time."

She sniffled again. "Anyway she kept moaning or groaning or whatever and then he let her go. She tried to convince me she wasn't to blame for this, but I hit her out of anger. I was just so upset that our teacher. The one we trusted so much was working with the Joker. I hated her at that moment and i still do! Then the Joker grabbed me and flung me out the window."

"Your honor, no further questions." Mr. Sark stated looking very pleased with himself. He sat down in his chair and took a sip of water.

Nichole's lawyer, Jacob, stood up and stood by his microphone. "Ariel, did the Joker or Nichole give any signs that Nichole knew the Joker was going to come on that day?"

Ariel thought for a moment before answering. "Well she did pass out earlier like I said, and she was looking pretty nervous all day. Also she seemed pretty comfortable around the Joker from my point of view, so naturally I think she knew." Ariel wasn't intentionally lying, but to say that Nichole was comfortable around the Joker was a complete lie. As Nichole remembers it she was very scared that whole day.

"What gave you the impression that Nichole cared about the Joker, when Nichole has stated outside of this court room that she hates him." Jacob asked.

"Nichole kept moaning when he touched her." Ariel's face then turned into one of complete disgust.

"If Nichole was working with the Joker why would she help you try to hide?"

"How would I know? I think she was just doing that to fake it all! I bet she told the Joker to meet her in her classroom to kill whoever she brought with her!"

Jacob yelled "Objection!" multiple times as Ariel spoke. The Judge nodded and her yells were taken out of context, but Nichole knew that the jury would keep those statements in their minds.

Jacob rubbed his chin. "No further questions."

The Judge nodded. "Ariel you may step down. The court calls Nichole up to the stand please."

Nichole's heart rate picked up as she stood up and slowly made her way to the stand. She felt everyone's eyes on her and noticed television cameras were on in the background. The world would be watching her now.

Jacob remained the one to interview Nichole before the jury, which Nichole was thankful for. She would rather start off slow; for she knew when Mr. Sark was going throw questions at her, he would do everything in his power to show she was a criminal.

"Now Nichole, can you please tell us your relationship with the Joker?"

Nichole coughed, clearing her throat. "I..I was kidnapped by him at a Bruce Wayne party about six months ago. I was with him for about a month. In that month I nearly died, and right before I was rescued he carved this J into my face. Gordon saved me."

"Well that sort of answers my question, but what I want to know is do you like him in anyway shape or form?"

She clenched her fists. "No… I do not. I hate him with every fiber of my being."

"Can you explain to us why? Please tell us what he did to you… Other than torment Gotham and what not."

Nichole blushed knowing what she'd have to say. "At first it was just beating me or threatening me, but then he murdered all my students at a past school of mine."

She looked up, staring directly into Jacob's eyes while she continued. "When he took me back to his hideout after I was kidnapped from the party… He told me to go through my day of tomorrow as I usually would, and to quit my job after work."

She paused. "He told me to go back home and wait for him at my house, after I was done teaching, to wait for him to pick me up."

Nichole's shoulders shook as she hung her head down.

"And did you meet him?" Jacob asked.

Nichole looked back up. Her eyes glistened with tears.

"No..." she choked, "I should have though." She sniffled and quickly wiped her eyes. "When the school day was over, all of my students knew that there was something the matter with me… that I wasn't acting like my normal self. You see, I loved my students with all of my heart. They were my best friends." She gave a sad smile as tears rolled down her cheeks before she choked. "So…. I told them… everything that happened to me… On-only l-l-little did I know that the Joker had inserted a microchip into my neck… So he heard everything! And… and he came to the school, and knocked on my classroom door. I thought that it was the principle so I opened it…"

Nichole couldn't help it anymore; she broke out into a fit of hysterics.

"I opened the door to my students' deaths! He murdered my class and made me watch!" She reached for tissues, sobbing loudly. She couldn't stop shaking.

Everyone in the court remained starstruck at what she said.

Jacob came up to her, and put his hand on her shoulder encouragingly. Nichole quickly looked up. "So… after that experience, you can imagine the pain in my heart when he started shooting up this second school.. I am a teacher! And all of my students are dead!" She blinked her eyes as she glanced at Ariel, and Nichole was very surprised to see, that she too, was crying.

After a few moments Nichole pulled herself together and took a deep breath. "Then he burnt down my house killed my dog." She decided to be brief on that, for she knew if she hung on to every detail, surely she could start crying again. "Later… about three days into being around him, he started...to um. He...he..." Nichole lost her train of thought.

"Nichole?" Jacob tried to get her attention back.

"… He... ra-raped me." She choked. "Many times." A ton of mumbling and gasps were heard throughout the court room, causing the judge to bang her gavel a few times to calm everyone down.

"He then was going to kill me, but I was placed in a situation where, he was going to die and I knew if he died that the people who were going to kill him, and they were the mob by the way, would kill me. So I had to save him. Unfortunately." She sighed to herself knowing how bad that sounded. "After saving him he decided to force me to work for him and create an alter ego to be by his side. I had to or I was going to be killed by him. And not just me, but he was going to kill my best friend at the time Tom Richards."

_Nichole, why don't you tell them about me? Tell them how you are helpless against me. Tell them how I am going to take control of you one day._ Candy giggled.

"Anyway...I was forced by him to do it all. So many times I tried to escape, but I couldn't. He made me make a video tape of me saying we were going to blow up a building. He had a knife to me many times, I even tried...I even tried to throw myself off the building to kill myself to save everyone...But he grabbed me. He has hurt me so many times and taken everything from me. I swear." Nichole felt herself tearing up, and took a tissue herself dabbing at her eyes,

_Nichole I believe I was never sworn in to tell the truth in this court of law._ Candy laughed once more, causing Nichole to tense in her seat. Candy was trying to take control again and was suggesting she was going to make Nichole lie.

"What happened after you were rescued? Where did you go?"

"Gordon saved me," She nodded to Gordon who was sitting in the row. Stiffly. "He placed me in protective custody. I was relocated to Lakeview to teach, and allowed to put makeup on to cover the scar. It was to protect not only me, but the students so they would not who I was. I wanted to get past all of that and move on so-....."

Jacob, flipped through his papers. "And did you know the Joker was going to attack the school that day or any day at all?"

"No I did not. I did not even know he had escaped until I saw him there."

"No further questions at this time, but I do request a redirect after the prosecutor interrogates her."

"Request granted." The judge stated. "Mr. Sark, you can question the defendant at this time."

"Thank you your honor." Mr. Sark smiled in a very cocky fashion at her, before moving to his podium and flipping through his own papers.

While he did that Nichole made eye contact with Gordon, who gave her a hopeful smile. He was leaning forward in his seat looking extremely nervous. She smiled back at him, biting the inside of her lip to keep herself from crying. Gordon exhaled deeply and tapped his foot growing more nervous as Mr. Sark turned his gaze to Nichole.

"Now, Nichole. Many students have stated that during the assembly the Joker said that if the person he was looking for, which in this case was you, came to the stage that he would not harm anyone else. Why did you not go up?"

Nichole raised an eyebrow. "Actually I do not think he said that if I went up he would not hurt anyone. I know he said that he wanted me to go up but-"

Mr. Sark interrupted. "That was not my question Nichole. Please answer it. Why did you not go up? Was it because you wanted the act of violence to happen? Did you want everyone to get shot at?"

"No no! I did not! I didn't go up because I was scared and in shock. Here was the man that did so many bad things to me right back in front of my face after six months, I panicked."

Mr. Sark tapped the table. "Ariel has stated, you did nothing when he was threatening to throw her out the window." He looked at her waiting for a response.

"If I walked over to him, he'd have thrown her out. I didn't want to egg him on. But I did beg for him not to. I would never wish harm upon my students."

"Look I am going to be frank with you, what proof do you have that you hate the Joker? How do we not know you really are working with him willingly and this is all fake? You shot a cop at a bank in the leg with the Joker around. The video tape clearly shows you had no gun to your head and the Joker was over by the cop. You had a clear shot at his head and yet you shoot the cop. Why is that?"

"The cop would have killed me! He was in anger from the Joker killing his friends." Nichole almost shouted.

There was a long few moments of silence.

Mr. Sark then smiled as he clasped his hands together.

As you can tell, he was one of those cocky arrogant lawyers.

"So… Nichole, do you have any proof on this alleged 'rape,'" he made air quotes as he said it "abuse you claim to encounter?"

Nichole was taken aback. "Proof? What do you mean proof? How am I suppose to-"

"Is there _anything_ you can give or show us that he would truly rape you whenever there were the sexual encounters? Because my client has made a sworn statement that you moaned in pleasure at his touch as he groped you right in front of-"

Nichole couldn't take it. "That was a misinterpretation!" she shouted out of frustration and embarrassment. Frustrated that Ariel took it that way, and embarrassed that it happened in the first place. "I wasn't moaning in pleasure! He was hurting me and groaned in pain! And I am really upset I made that sound because he kept… touching" she flinched, "me in that way to make a noise out of me because he _knows_ how to hurt me! And he knew that my cries of pain would get her to think that I truly liked him!"

She was breathing heavily at this point, which satisfied Mr. Sark more; he thought that he was truly getting to her, that she would break down and confess.

"But you didn't answer my question." He said yet again. "Do you have any proof that he sexually abused and raped you?"

_The bruises!_ The thought passed through her mind.

Nichole looked down at her hands folded on her lap and nodded.

Mr. Sark was surprised. "How?" he pressed.

"I have bruises and marks from every part where he put his filthy hands on me!" She shouted, clearly upset.

Mr. Sark scoffed. "Oh I'm SURE he leaves marks! Everyone knows by now that he likes it rough!" he said trying to press her buttons.

_You have no idea.._

Nichole buried her face into her hands and burst out in sobs. She was never going to win.

The court was then filled with screams and jeers at Mr. Sark for his comment.

"ORDER IN THE COURT!" The Judge shouted, banging her gamble.

"Objection!" Jacob stood up furious, "Aside from Mr. Sark's comment being entirely out of line, it holds no substantial reasoning to the line of questioning. It also has no back up evidence to prove that statement!"

"Objection sustained." The Judge said before turning to Nichole. "Nichole, do you really have bruises indicating the Joker's sexual encounters with you?"

Nichole's face grew hot as she shook. Through her tears, she nodded.

"Can you tell the court where they are mostly located on your body?" The Judge asked.

Nichole nodded again and help up her handcuffed hands.

The court gasped as they could see the dark ring like bruises around her wrists. Even Mr. Sark looked shocked.

"These are from when he would hold me down." Nichole stated as she started at the floor. She then looked up. "And I have more on my back… and my chest and neck.....yesterday he um.....he beat me with his belt, before shoving me into a van and dropping me off in the middle of Gotham City."

There was a low murmur in the crowd. Mr. Sark stared at Nichole intently.

One man stood up.

"Permission to speak your honor?" Jacob asked.

"Permission granted."

"Your honor, due to evidence which we are currently receiving, and this terrible misunderstanding of Nichole to everyone on the city of Gotham… Would it be permitted it, with Nichole's consent of course," he gestured to Nichole, "if it would be appropriate to evince the evidence by having Nichole lift up her hair that is covering her neck and the shirt up her back to show the court the wounds inflicted during the sexual abuse that occured to her?"

After a moment, the judge answered, "Granted, with Nichole's consent." She looked over to Nichole questioningly.

Nichole turned to Jacob. She stared at him wide eyed.

"You can do this Nichole," Jacob told her, "Show your innocence as he attacked you."

After a few moments, Nichole sighed and nodded.

The judge then instructed the female bailiff to assist Nichole in her stand (because Nichole was in handcuffs.)

The female bailiff, with no emotion written on her face, motioned for Nichole to stand up. Nichole hesitated before complying.

_You can do this..._ she told herself.

Nichole squeezed her eyes shut as the bailiff's hands lifted up her long blonde and pulled it up to the back of her head (almost in a messy bun matter).

Low murmurs and gasps were heard in the court. Nichole tried her best to drown them out but one man shouted:

"Those are love marks!"

The room was filled again with jeers or shouts of agreement at the man's comment.

Nichole sunk her teeth into her lower lip; tears were streaming down her face.

"Order in the court!" the judge shouted as she slammed her gamble.

Soon everyone was silent and everyone stared in horror or disgust at the visible deep bite marks that stood arrantly around her neck. The court could also see the hand marks that circled around her neck; irrefutable from strangling.

Nichole opened her eyes and stared emptily at the sea of people wearing suits. She couldn't decipher which ones of them were her friends or enemies. Most of them were enemies, she was sure of.

Her eyes then focused on Ariel, whose face remained a corpse. Nichole didn't even bother to look at Sark.

"Those marks could have been given to her with her consent. There is no proof-" Mr Sark began, but the judge interrupted him.

"Let them finish." She told him, then turned her gaze to Nichole.

The judge herself looked horrified as well as everyone else. She quickly cleared her throat and said, "Thank you Nichole," it was obvious she was trying to control the tone of her voice, "Now will you turn and face your back to the court please?"

Nichole closed her eyes and nodded slightly, due to the fact the bailiff was still holding up her hair. The bailiff then let her hair fall over her shoulders as Nichole turned around. She quickly made visual contact with the bailiff, whose eyes now glistened.

_Nichole?_ Candy cooed in Nichole's mind. _Shouldn't those love marks on your back remain private?_

_Shut up Candy! They are not love marks, and the court is going to see the not even a quarter of the hell the Joker has put me through already._

Nichole was surprised when she felt the bailiff's hands shaking as she quickly pushed away her hair from her back and reached for the zipper behind Nichole's neck. She hesitated before pulling down the zipper.

The bailiff knew this was not going to be a pretty site.

The courtroom started to gasp even before the bailiff could undo the zipper all the way to the bottom of Nichole's back. She then pushed each side of the jumpsuit to the side of Nichole's shoulders.

Her back was fully revealed.

The courtroom then filled with a paroxysm of gasps and cries. Everyone's eyes (including the doubting ones) took in the macabre of every bruise, cut, scar, welt, and injuries that scattered everyone on Nichole's fragile back. They all seemed to be more transfixed and horrified at the large marks, evidently made from a man's fists, and the severely swelling welts from his belt. Some of the welts that had bled while Nichole put on the jumpsuit had scabbed over and stuck to the fabric of her orange suit. Now, since the back of her jumpsuit was pulled away, the cloth had ripped off the scab of the welt causing it to bleed again. Nichole's back shook as she cried, feeling the blood drip freely down her back.

_Please, God, _she prayed, _please let everyone now see that I was the victim of this! Please…_

She crossed her arms across her chest which was still covered by the jumpsuit. Nichole was thankful that she couldn't have to show the sea of people with their suits, the disgusting marks that inhabited her chest.

After a few short moments, the judge finally came out of her scrutinizing daze and motioned for the bailiff to zip the jumpsuit back up.

The bailiff quickly pulled up the zipper, thankful to cover this tragic site. She laid a comforting hand gently on Nichole's shoulder as she motioned for Nichole to sit down.

For those few people, whose hearts already broke from the site of Nichole's battered back, now broke again at the site of the girl's broken face.

After they saw the clear injuries on her back, they _now _began to take in the marks on her face.

It's funny how it takes one huge mark to then get people to notice all the other small, but deadly ones.

The large bruise on her left jaw had everyone's attention now.

Nichole sat down crying silently. Something then caught her eye. She blinked her eyes a few times to get a temporary clear view without her tears skewing it. She then could see whose face stood out clearly in the sea of people wearing their suits.

Gordon's.

He had one hand covering his mouth. His crystal, blue, kind, and gentle eyes were now releasing tears profusely. His face was red as he visibly shook from the fast intakes of breathing sobs he took.

Nichole's heart no longer only moaned for her own and her deceased loved ones. Her heart literally felt like it tore in two at the site of Gordon crying.

She tried to give him a sad reassuring smile through her tears, but it quickly faltered; the tugs of crying began to tug in her throat again.

Mr. Sark cleared his throat, taking his place by his microphone again. "Again I will say it, what proof have you that...that those are rape marks and not marks given through sexual intercourse with your consent. And even if he did rape you...that does not mean you do not work for him. Cases have happened numrous times where females would be raped by mob bosses and gang leaders, but they still remained loyal to them. Who is to say that this is not one of those situations. You have no proof what so ever!"

Nichole looked at him; her tears still falling down her face from looking at Gordon. "I do believe that if I was working for the Joker and wanting to remain loyal to him, I would not be here in court testifying against him." She sniffled.

The doors to the courtroom opened, causing everyone to turn around. A single cop entered carrying a box labeled "Evidence". Gordon stood up heading to meet the cop to take it.

"Your honer this is evidence that will prove Nichole was with the Joker against her will." Jacob stated, seeing what Gordon was going to get. Jacob himself had been crying this entire time, which was rare for him as normally he did not get too emotionally connected to his clients.

Nichole smiled watching Gordon go to retrieve the box. The box that would free her from all criminal charges. She sighed seeing she was going to be a free woman once again.

Nichole then suddenly gasped as she felt herself beginning to float above her body. It was the same exactly feeling she got when Candy was on the couch with…

_NO! _Nichole screamed as Candy began to ease her way into Nichole's body. _Don't do this! I'm begging you! Please!_

_You should have listened to me Nichole!_ Candy roared back at Nichole, _you should have let me do all of the talking, but now it will be more intensified! If it's a confession that they want, then it's a confession that they will get!_

"NO!!!" Nichole then realized she shouted in real life. Her sudden outburst caused everyone to jump. Gordon stopped in his tracks.

She brought her handcuffed hands to the desk as she took deep breaths of air, gritting her teeth. She felt beads of cold sweat drip down her face as she fought against Candy in her mind.

_Candy! Stop! This is MY body!_ Nichole shouted to her.

_Well it's mine now! I have been quiet for far too long Nichole, too long! _Candy cackled back at Nichole.

"Nichole?!" The judge shouted to the now viciously shaking, spazzing Nichole. "What's wrong?! Are you-"

"Gordon!" Nichole shouted as her mind began to slip from her body.

Gordon looked up, alert. The tears were still visible on his face.

"Candy is coming!" Nichole screamed in panic, while squinting her eyes shut, trying with every fiber of her being to concentrate on not slipping away from her body.

Gordon's face paled. He vaguely had an idea what she meant.

Before he could react though, the courtroom was fill with sounds of panic and confusion.

Sark then spat out, "Raped or not raped this woman is still evil and dangerous to society! She needs to be set in Arkam-"

"HELP!" Nichole screamed as she began to pound her handcuffed hands onto the table.

Gordon ran over to the front of the court. "Judge!" He shouted in desperation, "Please! We need a fifteen minute recess! Don't-"

It was too late. Nichole once again became a distant hum in the back of Candy's mind.

Candy then, stopped pounding her tiny fists, and looked up at the court. Candy grinned evilly through Nichole's tears. She sat there quietly staring at Gordon.

Gordon knew at that moment something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

"Well you caught me. I admit it. I took the risk fully knowing the Joker could come and kill everyone, but I wanted it that way. I like it when he kills others just to get to me. It's pretty much hopeless to hide it. I am in love with the Joker. I hope that one day me and him can get married and maybe even have some Joker juniors of our own. He is my idol and i worship him with all my heart. Everything he says just makes complete sense to me. Ariel may not know this but i laughed as I watched her get flung out that window. Seeing her bones break. Oh it was quite the show! So might as well lock me up, cause I **love** the Joker! I hope he kills every single one of you!" Candy smiled to the crowd before bursting out in laughter.

Everyone fell completely silent, even Mr. Sark.

_Well I warmed them up for you Nichole. I had my fun! I think I am going to go take a nap or something, have fun with the rest of the trial._ Candy giggled. Nichole fell down and down into the body that Candy just abandoned.

Nichole screamed. "NO!!!" She burst out in hysterics, laying her head on the desk exhausted. She continued to cry.

_CANDY NO! OH MY GOD NO! I hate you! You fucking bitch! Why did you do that! I swear to God I'll kill you!_ Nichole screamed in her head. Her mouth literally fallen open.

Nichole looked back up. Her voice was very shaky. "NO! NO! I DIDN'T MEAN THAT! That was Candy who said that! I didn't say that! It was her! Not me!"

The crowd was dumbstruck at this poor, abused woman crying and going crazy. Some of them actually felt that Nichole got some sort of brain damage from being raped and abused so many times. But they believed she was innocent.

Others however, thought she was just a crazy mass murdering bitch.

The entire audience of the courtroom erupted into chatter. Photos were being taken, even though it was not allowed. The news reporters started their reports anyways. The information too much to keep in.

Mr. Sark smiled happily. He felt that he won.

He strolled back to his seat next to Ariel smiling shaking her hand, knowing he had won. Jacob's face paled as he sat back down hiding his face in his arms.

It took about five minutes to get everyone to stop talking. The judge herself was in complete shock. She stood up at her desk shouting. "Everyone! Order in the court!" She sighed sitting back down.

"Now, by law that was technically a confession. This trial will have to be laid to rest for further investigation. But in the meantime, I hereby declare as my power as Gotham City judge to find the plaintiff Nichole Stevens guilty for over a hundred counts of murder in the first degree. I herby find her guilty of terrorism. I herby find her guilty of helping a wanted terrorist." She judge's voice cracked. She obviously didn't want to do this. But she knew it was necessary for the state of law. "This trial will continue but until then, you are sentenced to life in Arkham. You might have a parole, however, if the evidence from the investigation that will take place, suffices. But you are undoubtedly in need of an asylum. That is all. Court is dismissed."

The judge looked exhausted as she left the room, almost in a run wanting to leave the drama behind her knowing this would make front page headlines.

Nichole sank back in her chair in shock. She stared off at the opposite wall in the room, cameras taking flash photography of her all the while. She couldn't feel her legs anymore, and this time it wasn't Candy's fault, but it was the fault of her feeling numb everywhere.

_Guilty...?...Life in Arkham. No I-I can't be guilty. I didn't do anything. I didn't....Gordon was about to give evidence to help free me....I can't be guilty. I am not guilty. I'm NOT!_

She met eyes with Gordon who looked like he was about to pass out.

* * *

**Kait:** _(pushes the Joker to the ground)_ YOU JERK! You beat Nichole with a belt! _(kicks him) _AND YOU _(points to Candy, who flees out of the room)_ I'll kill you!

**Joker:** _(growls)_ Well it was pay back for making me have 1/5th of a second where i sounded fluffy listening to Nichole heart!

**Kait:** Its not fluffy! It is just something that fit well with the situation! _(grabs an iron pole and starts beating him)_ But beating her with your belt! Fucking jerk!

**Syd:** _(stops Kait)_ HEY! We need him for the story Kait! If you kill him off what will you write your story about?

**Kait:** _(taps chin)_ Well we could go with that idea that her and Gordon get together.

**Joker:** _(eyes widden then he starts to laugh)_ YOU guys thought of that?

**Syd:** _(eyes widden)_ Uh.... it was a joke i swear! Me and Kait were just messing around!

**Joker:** _(dies from laughing)_

**Syd:** Oh great now look what we did!


	38. Arkham Asylum

**Kait:** Well...There is nothing really to be said here...I can't think of anything.

**Syd:** Same here. This chapter is kind of depressing. _(pauses)_ Okay VERY depressing.

**Joker:** GREAT! Then it's MY kind of chapter _(breaks out the popcorn)

* * *

_

Nichole sat in the interrogation room with her head on the single table and her arms folded around it as she cried her eyes out. Just a few moments ago, she was originally being escorted to an officer's car to be sent to Arkham, when the judge rushed over to her and the officer stating she was wanted back in the interrogation room. It was not questioned as to why when she entered. She went without complaint. The longer she was away from Arkham the better in her opinion. She had heard many horrible rumors of that place; rumors that made her sick to her stomach just thinking about. Experiments put on the patients there, and so much neglect and abuse.

_Just...Just remember. Being there will be better than being around the Joker._ She kept trying to tell herself.

She heard the door open, and did not even bother looking up. Her head felt as if it weighed as much as a car. Her tears were soaking up the table beneath her and made her hair and face become very wet. Her stomach felt as if someone was drilling into it. She was too weak to care.

She heard the person sit down in the chair opposite to her. The person placed his hands on the desk, and quietly sniffled. Nichole finally looked up and felt a huge pain in her heart as she did.

"Gordon!" She cried out. She kept picturing the look on his face in the trial. "Gordon I tried! I-I tried to fight her off… But she just got too strong!"

"Nichole! No don't you be sorry! You tried to explain it to me. If only I listened, or realized it earlier. Nichole we can get help for you. We can fix the problem-" Gordon stopped mid sentence, as Nichole suddenly tensed in her seat and started shaking.

Nichole shut her eyes tightly, gritting her teeth. "Candy! N-No! Not when I am with Gordon! Not when this may be the only time I can talk to...him." She clawed at the table, leaving her finger nail impressions in it.

Nichole suddenly felt all her muscles relax and looked up at Gordon. She had on a blank facial expression and stared directly into his eyes; folding her hands on the table neatly.

Gordon was leaning closer to her, tilting his head. "N-Nichole?"

Candy then placed a twisted smile on her face. "I'm sorry Nichole is not here at the moment, but you can leave a message and I will try to get it back to her."

From the smile on her tear stained face, Gordon knew that this was not Nichole.

"Nichole..." Gordon swallowed the lump in his throat, as he felt very upset at the moment. Here Nichole was, and he barely got to speak to her except once and now it wasn't even Nichole he was talking to. It was Candy. "Nichole you are not Candy. Candy is not real."

"Oh I am so sorry Commissioner, but Nichole can't respond to you at the moment. Of course she can hear every word you say to her, but she is unable to talk to you. You're stuck with me. Life's tough. Get a helmet." Candy tapped her head and laughed lightly.

Gordon furrowed a brow. "Candy, get out of Nichole. She hasn't done anything to you and look what you did on trial; you ruined her life!" Gordon found himself almost yelling at this point. He was just so angry at the situation.

Candy placed a hand on her heart looking completely offended by his comment. "How dare you accuse me of that! It's all about Nichole to you isn't it? Haven't you ever thought that maybe I am the victim in this situation? I didn't ask to share a body with Nichole, it just happened. She ruined my life, so I might as well ruin hers. An eye for an eye. Besides...you all think I am _craaaaaazy_. It's better for me to be locked up." She cackled evilly.

"Nichole did not ruin your life!" Gordon slammed his hand on the desk. "You just sent her to Arkham when she is innocent."

"She's innocent?" Candy raised an eyebrow. The corner of her mouth twitched into a grin. "Now that's funny. Very funny. She is the one that created me. She let me off the leash. So she is just as guilty as me. She's responsible for me, so isn't that a crime? It's like parents and their children. If a child commits a crime or breaks something the adult is responsible because they did not carefully watch....their child. Surely you as a man of the law know this. I bet you any money if you did not know Nichole you would just shrug off this case and think she was insane....like everyone else does. I believe you're too attached to this case Gordon. You should have no involvement what so ever to it." Candy smirked leaning back in her seat, staring at Gordon's increasingly red and angry face.

"That's different. Nichole didn't mean for any of this to happen." His voice cracked.

"How long are you going to continue to be by her side and defend her? Can't you see the domino effect of this single case? Gotham no longer trusts its police forces and thus they don't trust the government, because they help the police forces. With the people no longer trusting anyone, well....let's just say it will be easy for the Joker to take over. So… how long Gordon? How long will it be till you give up on Nichole? She is just a waste of your time! Look at the mess she's caused." Candy laughed looking at him as if he was crazy. "One single person did this." She brought her elbow up onto the table and placed her pointer finger in the air to count out one. "One person."

"And that person is the Joker." Gordon glared.

"No...No no no. Don't blame him." She cut her hand through the air. "He is the smart one here. The person to blame is Nichole and you know. So I am asking you to just give up on her. After all we both are going to Arkham now so you won't have to deal with us anymore. You just will have to deal with the Joker and everyone in Gotham hating you all. The Joker is done with his uses for Nichole. She is spent. He accomplished his goal. Or rather he accomplished a big step in his goal. So just give up; you can't win. Nichole is done for. She is going to Arkham where she will rot for the rest of her sickening god damn life."

Gordon kept a very straight face as he slowly stood up and walked over to Candy. He motioned for her to stand up and she did so; still having her twisted pleased smile on her face thinking Gordon was going to punch her flat in the face. If he did that then he would most definitely be fired, and also would be harming Nichole which would bring a smile to her face.

Suddenly his arms shot forward and there was no more space between them. He rested his head on the top of hers as he held her.

"What are you doing?!"Candy yelled irritated. "Get off of me! Only the Joker can touch me like this!" She screeched as she tried to shove him off of her.

He wouldn't budge.

Nichole was crying deeply in the inside, wanting to hug him back, but just could not regain control of her muscles. Candy was very strong at the moment.

"Nichole?" his voice cracked, "Nichole… I know you're in there somewhere. I hope you can hear me." Gordon began.

Nichole screamed into Candy's mind. _Yes I can hear you Gordon! Candy please let me out! Let me talk to him! Just for a second! Please!_ She begged.

"Just know I am going to help you. Whatever the cost. I am going to get Candy out of you and free you. I swear I will." He kissed her forehead, tears strolling down his face. "I love you... and your life is too precious to go to waste."

Suddenly the door to the room opened and a voice called over to them. "Gordon we told you no physical contact with her. She is a danger to humanity. We have to escort her to Arkham now."

Gordon remained hugging her, as Candy started shaking. Suddenly, the arms that fought so fiercely to push him back found their way around him and pulled him closer. Nichole cried into his chest as her tiny hands gathered the back of his jacket into fists; trying everything in her power she could to hold on to the dear man important in her life.

Gordon let go of her as the officer grabbed a hold of Candy's arm and lead her out of the room. Nichole fought back Candy for a brief moment and was able to turn her head to glance back at Gordon, who was all choked up himself.

The officer led her out the door and down the steps of the courthouse. News reporters were going mental cramming around the two and yelling out questions to Nichole.

_Don't worry Nichole I will deal with these hassling reporters for you_. Candy stated.

_Don't say anything you bitch! _Nichole yelled, still trying to regain control of herself.

"Nichole, why did you at the last second change your testimony and confess?" One reporter yelled.

Nichole was thankful that the policemen escorting here, hurried through the crowd of cameras and questions taking Nichole with them.

Their main goal was to get this "monster" locked up where she belonged.

* * *

The Joker was seated on the couch in front of the TV, watching the televised trial of Nichole Stevens. He watched every minute of it and nearly burst out laughing as Candy took control of Nichole. After fifteen minutes of some television hosts talking about the trial, it showed a clip of her exiting the courthouse. The Joker was rather disappointed that Nichole still remained herself; as her handcuffed hands tried to cover her crying face as the policemen escorting her hurried through the mob.

The Joker leaned back in his seat laughing sadistically. He grinned at the screen as he paused the TV on her face. His plan was right on schedule and working out much better than he had planned.

He suddenly frowned knowing the cost of his plan; being away from Nichole, when really he had only been around her less than two days since escaping.

But revenge is a dish best served cold.

He was willing to wait.

* * *

Pulling up to Arkham Asylum, the police cruisers all halted to a stop at the main gate. It took five cruisers to escort Nichole to the Asylum, as many feared the Joker would try to intercept the transporting. However, their worries were not needed as he did not show up at all. Nichole began to lose all her worries he would come and take her back with him. Though at the moment she did not know what was going to be worse. Arkham or the Joker. With the Joker it was him taunting, humiliating and beating her. With Arkham, God knows what will happen; after all everyone now thinks she is a maniac.

_Stop it Nichole! _She told herself. _This IS better than staying with the monster._

She leaned back in the seat, itching at her handcuffs, which were purposely placed too tight on her by the same officer that shoved her for changing too slowly. Started to lose the feeling in her hands; the pain from the metal pressing on her bruised wrists had numbed.

That same officer stopped the car and walked to the car door she was leaning on. He then opened it and roughly grabbed her arm, yanking her out of the car. She yelped, as he pressed his fingers into her arm, leading her into the dark depressing building known as Arkham Asylum.

The officer brought her to the main desk and lightly tapped on the counter to get the secretary's attention. She glanced up; her eyes glaring into Nichole's tear stained ones. She pressed a red button on a remote control device, and a loud buzzing noise was heard. Two doctors entered the room via a large set of double doors. They smiled at the officer.

"Ah. So this must be Nichole." The female doctor stated. She had obnoxiously vibrant red hair and poor teeth. "The one they have been talking about all the time the past few days. Our new celebrity. Nichole I hope you find yourself comfortable here, since there are a few inmates who have emotional ties to not only people the Joker has killed or harmed, but the children that you both shot at."

She kept a straight face pointing to herself. The look in her eyes were inkling that she herself had lost a loved one to the Joker.

"I am doctor Lyn. And this is doctor Taylor." She pointed to the man next to her. "We will look after you and this man-" She pointed to the security guard who was sitting in a lobby chair reading the newspaper. "Is the guard for the hallway your cell will be located in. He has been waiting here so you two can get properly acquainted."

The guard smiled at her before returning to his newspaper. His smile held no meaning what so ever.

Doctor Lyn, nodded to the officer that lead her in and he quickly went over to the secretary to flirt with her as Nichole had noticed the two kept looking at each other with lust filled eyes. Nichole rolled her eyes slightly to herself.

Doctor Taylor spoke up now to doctor Lyn. "Would you please get her nice and settled? She needs to go through a couple of procedures before being placed in her cell."

Doctor Lyn nodded, as Dr. Taylor turned on his heel back down a different hallway.

Dr. Lyn smiled at Nichole; a smile which Nichole could tell was spurious and full of repulsion. "Now Nichole, we must get you in the proper attire and we must explain our rules and such for this place. If you would please follow me..." She gestured to a door labeled "Stairwell" and walked towards it.

Nichole followed silently behind her. She did not want to talk to or even ask anything to this woman, for Nichole knew what the doctor thought of her. Everyone thought she was just another loony.

The doctors all put on a sort of fake voice when speaking to her, almost one that a person would use to a toddler or pet. Speaking very slowly and clearing, making sure to pronounce every word. It made her sick to her stomach every time they talked; not for the manner in which they were speaking to her, but the meaning behind it. She wanted to escape from this fate thrown at her. Gordon promised he would help her, but she knew there was basically nothing he could do. Candy blew all chances of freedom when she spoke up.

_If only I could control you Candy....If only I could be stronger than you. _Nichole said flatly to her.

Candy stifled a laugh. _The day you're stronger than me would be the day you fell in love with the Joker. Not going to happen._ She giggled at what she said now. _Yanno...this place... It makes me feel more at ease. Arkham is actually quite peaceful for me_ She sighed happily.

Nichole was brought into a small room, where Dr. Lyn handed her faded white pants and a white shirt. She then turned around and handed Nichole a wireless bra (to keep from using the wire as an escape tool or to kill herself) and underwear. "We keep them white so if you are bleeding we can know right away." She stated. "Though it is for those who are suicidal and you are not listed to have that sort of issue…"

_They have no idea._

Nichole began to put the articles of clothing on and said irritably, "And what **am **I listed as?"

Dr. Lyn sighed. "Many things dear...Many things that we can fix." She laughed softly.

Nichole finished putting on the clothes, and Dr. Lyn grabbed a clipboard. "Now dear i have to examine all your wounds alright? Can you please lift your shirt up?"

Nichole shut her eyes as she lifted her shirt up slowly for the doctor. Dr. Lyn wrote down numerous things as she eyed every bite mark, slash and wound on Nichole. She spent a good deal of time looking at a large bruise on Nichole's lower stomach. She placed one hand on it and pushed down.

Nichole winced, biting the inside of her mouth to hide her groan in.

The doctor shook her head as she wrote something down. "How many times have you had sexual intercouse with him?

Nichole caught her breath in her throat, tensing completely at the doctors words. "...Three. Three times...."

The doctor took another look at the bruise on her and then tapped her pen to the clipboard. "Nichole...I'm afraid that you at one point or another recieved a punch or were slammed so hard against something, that it wrecked your Uterus...I am afraid that you can not become pregnant, it's all smashed up. Judging by how it feels at the moment, it has healed and i do not think the bruise you currently have there caused it, but something a while back. Perhaps when you were with him the first time?"

Nichole froze in her spot. Two feelings came over her at once. She was a bit sad on the inside to know that she would never be able to have a child of her own flesh and blood. But then she felt relief, and a lot of it. She would never have a child with the monster ever. She knew he would never intentionally get her pregnant, for he would never want a child. But he never cared to try and protect against a child. The thought never crossed her mind once, except when she was rescued from him after he carved her face. Maybe the doctors did not bother to check if her uterus was alright for they were too preoccupied with her face that had a large J in it, that would not stop bleeding.

Still....She was very relieved.

The security guard entered the room now. "She ready to be placed in her cell?" He asked rubbing the brim of his hat.

"Why yes. Hang on I must explain to her a few things first. Now Nichole, you get a shower once a day. Once a week you have group theory and once a day you have single theory. If all goes well you can get out of here...in..." she tapped her chin. "Maybe ten years?"

Nichole's heart dropped. "TEN YEARS? T-That's a joke right?!" She screamed at the doctor. "Gordon will get me outta here! I didn't do anything! This is a misunderstanding! Candy did it all! I hate the Joker! She loves him! It's split personalities! I swear it!"

Dr. Lyn sighed. "Oh dear...she's talking nonsense now. Matt I think we should put her under." He told the security guard.

Nichole's face burned hot. She was now so frustrated with everything."My god can you hear me!? I know what it is! You can treat me with some medication and then I can be on my way! Just listen to me!" Nichole screamed at the doctor as she tried to grab a hold of her.

Matt, the security guard, reached over to the nearest desk pulling out a needle. He examined it before closing in on Nichole.

She tried to run out of the room away from the two. It hurt her so much that no one believed her about Candy. She hated the fact they all thought she was a lying crazy lunatic. It hurt worse than the pain of receiving her "J" scar.

She felt a sudden pain in her left arm. She glanced behind her to see the guard shoving the needle, more deeply than necessary, into her arm. As he pushed down on the needle to allow the clear liquid to enter her blood stream, Nichole felt very light headed. She felt her muscles not responding to her commands, and it wasn't in the same way as how Candy would take control. She was being drugged.

She felt her body hit the ground and everything going black.

* * *

Nichole woke up feeling sick to her stomach. Opening her eyes, she took in the cell she was in. It was made of gray cement and rather dark. She then noticed, with wide eyes, that her cell was completely empty. No bed, no toilet, no sink. Nothing but bare walls and floors and a single steel door on the opposite wall to her. It had a single slot at the bottom where one would shove food into the cell without having to step inside.

Nichole crawled over to the door, her left arm hurting immensely from the needle. A small blood stain was on her short sleeve white shirt now.

She poked the slot to try and open it to be able to talk to someone in the hallway, as she wanted to know what she was doing in an empty cell. It looked like a solitary confinement cell, the ones that inmates that would misbehave would be sent to until their behavior was fixed. This cell was meant to sequester it's victim from any human contact. Nichole shivered in terror. She knew of the mental horrors and psychological trauma that saturated the prisoners who were put in confinement. Panicking, she started to bang on the door.

"Hey!" She screamed, her fists starting to hurt after coming in contact with the steel. "Someone out there! Heeeeeey! Let me out of here! This is inhuman!" One of her scabbed knuckles then tore on the steel and began to bleed. "Ah!" She grunted, sucking on her knuckle to relieve the pain. Nichole knew that if she kept this up, at the end of it all, her knuckles would be scared.

When she saw that no one was going to come to her aid, she sat back on the floor and leaned against the uncomfortable wall.

_They can't do this to me...They can't.... _Nichole thought to herself leaning her head back.

Nichole suddenly heard talking outside her cell and dashed over to the door, leaning her ear on it to hear what the chatting people were saying.

She could make it out that it was Matt the security guard and Dr. Taylor speaking.

"So tell me again why that scum is in this cell?" Matt asked.

Nichole flinched feeling him tap the door.

Dr. Taylor then spoke up. "It's funny, you know? The Gotham police expect us to try and heal this woman. She clearly is crazy and not only that; she works with the Joker. He is the most wanted criminal around here....people like him and her deserve to die and endure the pain they have caused all of the citizens. You ask why she is going to be kept in this cell when it normally is used for people with bad tempers and they only are in the cell for a few hours. It is simple; we want her to suffer. This girl doesn't deserve our time to help her, so we kill her off. But....we do it slowly. Let her wish she was as dead as her victims." Nichole swore she heard a crack in the doctor's throat when she said the word victims. "Besides if we were to kill her off right away, then everyone would grow suspicious of it. Not that anyone would really care, but we would be arrested. The only person we have to worry about trying to check up on her is that damn Gordon. If he tries to enter here, we can just say she is resting or something. Even if he tries to charge in...Do. Not. Let. Him. Understand Matt? All the doctors know this, but I know I can trust you to keep your mouth shut?"

"You got it Dr. Taylor." Matt chimed. "If you want...cause normally I put my chair to guard this hallway further down. I can place it somewhat near this cell, just so I can make sure no one gets in that isn't supposed to get in."

"No that's fine you don't have to. Matt....No one but Gordon is who we have to worry about and if he enters we will be able to stop him."

Matt was now leaning against the door. "Well what about the Joker? What if he-"

Dr Taylor scoffed. "Him? If he dumped her on the side of the street as witnesses say, then he could give two shits about her! Anyway, we have to let her have a shower though as the inmates want to have-" He cleared his throat. "-some words with her." He laughed once more. "So might as well let them 'talk' to her. In an hour Dr. Lyn will be back to escort her to the women's shower area alright?"

"Yes sir." Matt stated.

Nichole could hear the two walk down the hallways away from her cell.

She backed away from the door on all fours. She started to cry out like a dying animal. The few words they said had hit her like a bullet to the chest. One word after the other. She fell over to her side and clawed at the ground screaming. Her screams echoed against the small square cell and came back to her ear drums almost instantly. Hearing her cry only made her feel more hopeless.

She cried and cried. She knew that deep down she deserved to be here… If only she hadn't been offended by Tom's ignorant comment. If only she hadn't listened to her ipod in the bathroom, she then would have been able to hear the gunshots and commotions in the other room and would have known to stay where she was. If only she had listened to what the Joker said and quit her job after school. If only she didn't tell her students. If only…

If only.

If only.

Those are the two words that now remained stuck in the front of Nichole's mind… If only.

She thought once again about her first students... her dear, dear students. Their smiles, their laughter, the intimate things they told her. She could remember each one they shared and who's they were.

If only.

Innocent and pure. Untainted. Once so innocent and pure and filled with smiles and laughter now had a new substance that came out of each of their mouths rather than words.

Blood.

Choking.

And screaming.

If only.

But there was something before that; a door opening. Her walls of optimism had crumbled down around her as soon as she saw his face. Smiled that yellow crooked smile.

Nichole had seen her students for many many days beforehand. She had seen all of their emotions in class as they got closer. But the terror that arised in their helpless gazing eyes. She never saw that emotion from them.

Her students were so pure, so clean, but became covered with blood and bullets before her eyes. What was once so innocent now became bloodied, tainted, and dead.

If only.

She fell to the ground and squeezed her eyes shut. His face was entering her mind again. The one who caused her all her pain and suffering, usually had an evil smile or glare on his scar ridden face. Now it was one in please. He was inside of her.

She screamed. Screamed screamed screamed. That bastard was inside of her! The stabs of his knife, the beating of his fists, the groping of her skin, and the beatings of her belt all began to rain down on her at once.

"FUCK YOU! YOU DID THIS! YOU DID THIS!" She screamed as she thrashed on the ground in seething pain. "GET OFF OF ME! GET OFF OF ME!"

She then began to smash the back of her head against the cement of the floor.

_Please let me escape this pain. Please wake me up from this dream. Please save me from this monster. Knock me out KNOCK ME OUT!_

It worked.

Nichole fell asleep into the world of no conscious.

If only.

* * *

An hour later her cell door opened. Nichole woke up with one hell of a headache. She felt weak as it was from all her crying. It was drained all her energy. After all she had a very emotionally demanding day what with the trial.

She couldn't remember her mental breakdown she had just an hour ago. It was wiped from her memory.

_After the shower,_ she told herself, _I am going to go take a long slumber. I don't give a fuck if it's on the stupid cement floor. I want to escape it all again._

_Oh ho ho but you can't escape it all Nichole. I am in your mind, which means I have some say on what you can dream about. _Candy giggled.

Dr. Lyn tapped Nichole's arm and helped her up. She led Nichole down a few hallways to the shower area. There were dozens of showers lining the wall. No covers, no privacy. Many were turned on and currently occupied by other inmates. Those who were in the room already all turned and stared at Nichole. They glared at her and many stopped what they were doing.

Dr Lyn whispered in Nichole ear. "Now go on and pick a shower. I am sure you can borrow soap from someone. I have to go back to my office. We scan this room before all you enter, so it's safe so no one will cute themselves. You all are grownups here, you will behave accordingly." Dr. Lyn then sounded as if she was holding in a laugh.

As she felt the doctor leave her side Nichole quickly walked over to the nearest shower, feeling everyone's eyes on her. It was a very uncomfortable feeling.

_Alright Nichole… just pretend they don't exist. Just get the shower over and done with and you can go back to your cell. Just remember Gordon will get you outta here. _She told herself.

She turned the shower on to a medium setting, and shed, clothes, feeling very awkward, but knew she would have to buck it up. After all it was just all females. She tried to picture it like her high school gym class when she used to have to do the same thing. By shutting her eyes and letting the water run down her body while picturing she was still in high school she felt more at ease.

Her back was stinging in pain as the water ran over all her bruises and various cuts, but she bit the inside of her lip and the pain was dulled a bit. She also think her pain was dulled down from whatever shot they administrated to her.

She felt as if someone was near her. She opened her eyes and turned her head to notice a group of the inmates standing by area. Pure hated and fury was the only emotions to be read on her face. Naked with hatred.

"So you're the one...." One tall scraggly looking female stated.

"Excuse me?" Nichole asked nervously. Her nerves came back as she realized she had to do whatever she could to not piss everyone off more than they already were. Many of them she noticed were eyeing her J scar on her face. She blushed, now feeling very awkward.

"You're the one that is in with the Joker. The one that shot up that school. Man girl that's fucked up." Another inmate that looked like a heroin addict added.

"No..." Nichole's eyes filled with tears as shook her head. "It's a big mistake. I didn't-"

"Shut up!" the scraggly inmate yelled at her. "Yanno my cousin went to that school. She got shot in the fucking leg you bitch. When you're in here your precious Joker isn't here to protect you girl. You're in our turf now and you crossed the line just entering here. We prob would hate you just for working with that guy, but messing with my family? Then you mess with ALL of us." She growled.

She then took a hold of Nichole's bare shoulder, her long nails digging into it, and slammed her into the wall of her shower. Her chest dug into the pipe the shower head was connected too and a screw on the pipe ripped the skin of her chest. The woman then grabbed the back of Nichole's head with both hands, and smashed her into tile of the walls, causing the wall itself to become cracked, and Nichole's head to bleed just a few inches above her hairline.

The feeling was similar to the time the Joker had smashed Nichole's head repeatedly five times into a brick wall. That was when Tom was alive, trying to save her.

Nichole panicked and cried out for help from the doctors, who had left the room minutes ago. "Help! Doctor Lyn! Doctor Taylor! Someone!"

The woman turned Nichole around and then punched her painfully in the face. "They can't help you. Don't you know it's not normal for them to leave us all alone?" She gave a twisted grin filled with anger. "They did it cause of you. They wanna turn their heads while we deal with scum like you." She threw another punch at Nichole's face, missing and hitting her painfully neck. The blow knocked Nichole on her side.

Nichole was now choking at this point and her whole face felt like it was on fire. "Stop!" She gasped.

Other inmates joined in taking shampoo bottles and their shoes and throwing them at Nichole. The rest began to kick and punch at her various body parts that they could reach.

The pain was unbearable, and Nichole was shoved onto the ground now in a defenseless and hopeless position. They kicked at her back, hitting her bruises many times, which caused the most pain.

Every wound began to bleed again.

"Look at those hideous love bites girl?! He sure as hell seemed to love the site of that precious chest of yours with the work he done to it." One of the woman growled as she kicked Nichole full on in the stomach.

"He would probably love to see the site of this shit going down right here!" Another cackled.

Her screams of agony were heard and echoed out into the hallways, but the passing doctors and guards pretended not to hear. A small smile would etch on the faces of those who passed by the locker room and heard its sounds.

"Please stop!" She pleaded as blood rushed from her back, mouth, nose, and forehead.

At this point many backed off, allowing two or three to get closer and take more accurate kicks to her chest and stomach. One took Nichole by the arm and dragged her backwards, while another went to Nichole's shower and turned it to the coldest setting it could possibly be. They took her bra, underwear, shirt, and pants and threw them recklessly under the freezing shower water.

Then they took Nichole and threw her under the shower, holding her down beneath the flow of nonstop chill. At the angle they held her, the water rushed into her nostrils and through her screaming mouth. It felt like Nichole's eyes were pushing themselves out of their sockets. She was drowning. The freezing water felt like millions of razors rained upon her. Her whole body went numb, and she began to shiver uncontrollably as the water went down every inch of her body.

After a few more moments of being held under the water (and Nichole only taking sparing breaths of gasping air) they heard the locker room door open. All the other inmates rushed back to their showers acting as if nothing had happened. They dropped Nichole, her back and head landing on the tiled floor with a thud. Nichole laid there under the freezing water, on the dirty floor mixed with her own blood. She was too weak, lightheaded, and tired to move. The tears fell at a constant rate as a slightly warm, but embarrassing yellow liquid ran down her tattered legs.

Dr. Lyn walked over to Nichole faking concern. "Oh Nichole, what happened?" It first sounded like a gurgle but eventually Nichole came to herself.

She tried to speak, but no words could come out. She was in too much pain, and was too cold to respond.

"I see, so you fell? Nichole you must be more careful in here. You could get seriously hurt." Dr. Lyn turned off Nichole's shower.

_My God, Can't you see I am hurt? I can't feel anything on me. Please help me. Don't just stand there! Help me, I am shaking in pain! How can you not see it? _Nichole screamed in her mind. She knew the doctor could see her pain, but Dr. Lyn just did not care. She wasn't going to help Nichole, she was going to watch her suffer.

"Well get up, we can't have you lying around like that all day. You must go back to your cell. Dinner will be served you then." Dr. Lyn stated, tapping her foot. She knelt down and picked up Nichole's clothes and through them at her. Her soaking shirt fell over her heaving naked chest.

Through the pain and numb, Nichole could still hear her stomach growling loudly. She had not eaten since two days ago, that evening with the Joker. At the courthouse they never had a chance to get food to her. Water of course, but not food.

Nichole then did something she never thought she would do. She begged Candy for help.

_Candy....please...give me the strength to get up and go to my cell. Please help me._ She pleaded.

_Oh so now you want my help? Sorry darling, but you deserve this. You never asked for my help around the Joker, so why should I help you now? _Candy stated. And that was that.

Nichole, still shaking, managed to stand herself up; leaning on the crushed wall beside her for support. She put her clothing on slowly, almost not being able to strap her bra on completely or get only one leg into a pant leg. The entire task was made even more difficult as her clothes had been placed under the freezing water and were soaked completely. Once done, she limped over to Dr. Lyn who then escorted her back to her lonely empty cell.

Hearing the door lock behind her she sank to the ground in fetal position, hugging her arms to herself to keep warm. She shivered loudly against the cement floor and it echoed in the damp cell. She never remembered being cold was so painful. Along with the numbness, her legs, arms, chest, stomach, and head were bleeding profusely decent amount. She felt light headed as the blood left her body and stained her white wet clothing.

She heard walking in the hallway of her cell and plates being placed into cells of other inmates. It came as no surprise to her what so ever, when the person passing out food skipped her cell purposely and did not supply her with any food or water.

Nichole spent half of the night, shivering from her wet clothes. She cried herself to sleep from all the pain and discomfort.

In the back of her mind, she wished that she was in the warm bed with the Joker's head on her chest, rather than this.

* * *

For two days Nichole endured the same thing. In the mornings the breakfast cart would stroll down her hallway, and ignore her very existence. She moved around in her cell rarely; only to turn onto her stomach of back to give her wounds on whatever side she had been laying on a rest.

Hours she would spend staring at the walls of her cell. The only sound that she could hear was of Candy, constantly teasing and taunting her by bringing up past events like Ariel, Gordon, Tom and even her dog. Once Candy even dared to bring up her mother. Nichole yelled to the cell she was in, not caring who would hear, as long as Candy could. "Shut up! Just shut up!"

She could feel herself drowning into **madness**.

The most embarrassing thing for her was that due to the fact there was no toilet provided for her, she had to relieve herself in a corner of her cell, causing the small room to smell very quickly along with herself.

Once Nichole could tell the sun was setting slightly, due to the only barred window of her cell showing a few scarlet and orange rays into her cell's floor, Nichole knew what would happen next. She would be escorted back to the showers, where she would be beaten up by those with emotional ties to those the Joker harmed or the students that "Nichole" harmed. She took the beatings, figuring if she fought back that would only make them worse and longer.

A funny thought crossed her mind, as she was limping (almost falling over twice) back to her cell after her shower on the third day of being there. With the Joker, it was only one man beating her and yet here it was dozens of criminals. Psychos. She thought that all the pain that they inflicted on her within a day and a half of her being there so far, was equal to receiving all the pain the Joker caused her in one hit.

By the second morning Nichole was simply not Nichole anymore. She wasn't even human anymore. She was a rag doll, lying down on the cell floor so hopeless and too weak to do anything.

She was starving out of her mind, as she had not been fed in days. The thing that kept her alive, was the water she managed to swallow whenever she took her "showers". Everything on her ached and not just on the outside of her body, but on the inside. Her stomach pained every second of every day and her head was as light as a feather. Her skin had a bit of a ghastly purple tinge to it, as she was cold constantly, and almost always wet from the fact her clothes were being shoved under water, along with herself. It was difficult for them to dry in her cell since the cell itself was damp and uninviting.

The only thing that really scared her at this moment was the fact that she could see more red on her clothing than white. The blood covered her outfit, and every so often a patch of white would be there, clinging to short life it had, since it knew that soon another blow would be sent. Another hit would fire at it, and a wound would cause the red to glide slowly over the white until it was no more. The more red, the more loss of faith Nichole would have.

It was on this third day that Nichole gave up all hope. Her will to survive was gone, and she hoped that someone would just kill her and get it over with. The pain she was enduring was too much. She couldn't even cry anymore. Her tear ducts were in pain.

She rolled over onto her back and stared at the ceiling. "I'm going to join you mom." She spoke softly, and gently. "Soon. I'll be with you....and I'll hug you and tell you that everything is alright. Because you won't have to watch me suffer anymore." Nichole shut her eyes for a moment.

"OH WOW NICHOLE! That has to be the sappiest thing I have ever heard you say yet." Candy spoke.

Nichole jumped in shock, as the voice of Candy did not sound as if it was in her mind, but actually in the room with her. She sat up and fell back down from the sudden blood rush to her head. She then finally managed to lean her back against the cell wall. She almost passed out when she saw Candy leaning on the opposite wall by the window. Her arms folded across her chest and a smirk placed upon her face. She was done up in her makeup and outfit, and even had the candy cane pole to boot.

"C-Candy....Candy you-...you can't be in the room with me. You're....a part of me. You're not real. You're in my head. What are you....Wha-....I-..." Nichole stuttered.

Candy batted at the air with one hand. "Shucks Nichole you think too hard. I just wanted to come out and meet with you face to face. I was so tired of being stuck in that head of yours… Constant lugubrious thoughts I had to endure from you almost made me depressed myself! I figured we could use a little bonding for the two of us gals! Since the past few days you have been extremely boring no offense. So I thought to myself, HEY why not come out and chat with you here? Cause Nichole you are starting to ignore me talking to you in your mind and that really ticks me off." Candy started walking around the cell, looking out of the window for a moment before turning back around to meet eyes with Nichole. "I have finally transmogrified myself from being a tiny voice in your head and the reflection in the mirror, to taking actual human form."

"If you wanted to talk to me, you should have just talked to me in my mind like you normally do! Hell even take control of me if you want to so badly! I don't care anymore! You can have my body to use as your tool, there is no point living in this dead skin anymore."

"Why Nichole… That's the problem. There is simply no fun to be had if you just willingly let me take control. It's not fun, and besides why would I wanna take control right now? I am already at the advantage at the moment so I only would if it was extremely necessary."

"Advantage?"

Candy nodded. "That's right. Wanna know the reason I can show myself to you in the flesh here? It is because of this place's aura. It just gives off this "wack-o" vibe to it." Candy took one a finger and swirled it in a circular motion by her head to mimic someone teasing a crazy person. "So since everyone thinks your wack-o...and hell even you are starting to think you are wack-o, I get to visit you." She chucked. "You would now officially be labeled as a schizophrenic in the medical books. Thought you outta know."

"Well you had your fun. Now please....leave me alone. You ruined my life, isn't that enough for you?" Nichole, still only spoke in a whisper. She was in too much pain to yell.

Candy looked at the ceiling as if she was in deep thought, then looked at Nichole and shook her head. "Nope! It's not enough; I want more!" She giggled.

Candy walked over next to Nichole and patted her shoulder. "Listen kid I think you have learned something here. Something you don't even wanna admit."

"And what would that be?" Nichole glared at her.

"That you really are crazy! Nichole if you know you're crazy, you're making progress here! Doctors always say that one who can admit they are crazy is ten times more likely to be healed than those in denial! I mean look at you. You're a mess! Blood everywhere on you and you smell horrible!" Candy brought a hand by her nose and plugged it teasingly.

_How childish you are Candy. You act like an immature brat. _Nichole thought to herself.

All the sudden Candy brought a hand down and smacked Nichole across the face. Nichole yelped, as this in fact really did hurt her. But how could it if Candy was not real? She didn't question why at the moment, she was too busy trying to dull the pain.

"I heard that Nichole! Just cause I am out here talking to you face to face, don't mean I can't hear your thoughts. After all we still are sharing the same noggin. Don't you dare insult me."

"An insult is what you're worried about? You have done so much more to me you fucking bitch!" Nichole yelled to her, which caused herself pain as it took a lot of energy out of her to raise her voice.

Candy then picked Nichole up by the arm and slammed her into the wall, pinning her by both her shoulders. Candy spat in her face, sending saliva into Nichole's eyes. Nichole screamed out, her eyes stinging as if chlorine were in them.

"You listen to me and listen to me good. You are an ungrateful cry baby of a woman Nichole. You really are. Haven't you seen what this place has shown us? What being in this place had made me realize for you? The lesson you could learn here? Do you not see it?"

"I see nothing here, but death." Nichole stated flatly. She could feel nothing but the pain of the rough wall digging into her poor back.

"Exactly!" Candy smiled. "Don't you see it?! Do you even see that being with the Joker is better than this place?! This Arkham Asylum? The Joker at least clothed you....heh well when he wanted." She winked at Nichole, sending a chill down her spine. "And he fed you and gave you water and gave you warmth. You took all that for granted. And I heard that little thought of yours yesterday, thinking that all the pain you got here was like all the pain the Joker gave you over the entire span of your life in one single hit. Well...again I say at least with the Joker, pain was given over time and to be quite honest I could tell he was holding back many times. What would you rather have Nichole?"

Candy gave Nichole a fierce shake before she continued.

"Being starved, dehydrated, and beaten up by dozens of people at once with absolutely no chance of being able to talk out of it and being around people that don't believe you?! I am saying this for your own good Nichole, because I don't want you to die. If you die. I die and that would be a fucking pain in the ass. At least with the Joker, for your benefit, you were able to talk your way or sneak your way out of a situation, because you knew how to get past his games sometimes. Sometimes you have to grin and bear it, and you know that, but at least there were times you were spared."

Nichole stared at her in horror, not knowing at all what to think. Seeing Nichole was not going to speak Candy continued.

"AND it's funny, dontcha think? The two people in this world that believe you about me and understand your problems and know that you are innocent, are Gordon....and the Joker. Those are your only two options for safety in this city Nichole. You're in too deep to become innocent now. No one will believe you, and I doubt that Gordon can harbor you secretly at his house since he is probably being watched twenty four seven, because of you and what you caused Gotham City."

Candy pretended to ponder for a minute. "And not to mention the fact that he already has a wife and kids. And he is a tad bit too old for you!"

Nichole gasped as Candy burst out laughing.

"The Joker is your only option, Nichole and you know it. You hate him yes. I know. But you're a spineless ungrateful bitch because you hate him. Not only are you ruining **MY **chances with him, but you are taking for granted the things he has done for you."

"I refuse to ever think that being around him is better than this place!" She screamed in Candy's face.

"Nichole, you need to think about it logically. You don't wanna die. No one does. And if you die you want it to be quick and painless. So what would you rather have Nichole? _Hmmm?_ Staying here and standing on the brink of death for months and months unable to even get the slightest bit of edge, or the slightest bit of mercy… Or would you rather be alive and properly fed and warm....only to endure beatings when you speak out of line or do something that would just be so stupid that you deserve it. Yes...Here you would not be raped and rape is one of the things that makes you hate him, but rape is nothing compared to all this you are getting here. I mean look at you. Forced to go to the bathroom in a corner....living off the small drops of water you manage to catch in your mouth as they beat you...despicable. Nichole you have to see it. You have to. The Joker is better than Arkham." Candy stared at her intently and awaited her answer.

It was a moment of weakness to say at the least. Nichole was losing it at the moment, and knew the fact she could see Candy must have something to do with the fact she hadn't eaten in days and lost so much blood her head was constantly falling forward. She thought of what Candy spoke. She thought of what it was like to eat food, to be warm, to have proper hygiene. She thought of the pain she endured here and the emotional abuse she received for everyone not believing her.

She always hated when she was called a liar. Always in life she found that if someone accused one of being a liar, that that was simply the worst insult one could say. For everyone to be pointing at her saying she is a liar, and insane, and madly in love with the Joker. It was too much for her. Candy was right for once. Gordon and the Joker were the only two to believe her. One of them was her friend, the other was a lunatic she hated.

"Candy....you're...you're right." Nichole whispered. She could hardly see herself say it though.

She had to admit, she would rather take another blow from his biting belt than fatal kicks from dozens of criminals.

Candy loosened her grip on Nichole's shoulders looking extremely pleased with herself. She smirked to herself and thought to herself, without Nichole being able to hear of course. _Score!...Operation slowly brainwash Nichole is under way._

Candy laughed to herself, which caught Nichole's attention; although Nichole's head was now hurting more than normal. Her energy had simply been spent. "Wh....hat's....fuunyyyy?" Nichole mumbled.

"Oh nothing Nichole." She patted Nichole on the head. "Well that was a fun conversation, but.." She placed a hand by her ear. "I think a guard is coming. After all I am sure everyone heard you talking to yourself. Now you just went from crazy to absolute loony!" Candy giggled, kissing Nichole on the cheek and then completely disappearing in thin air.

"Ca...ndy? Candy!" Nichole shouted with her last breath. "You come back!"

Her cell door opened and two guards entered, one was carrying a straight jacket. The other was carrying a tray of food and a glass of water. Finally!

The other took out his tazer gun pointing it menacingly at Nichole. "Don't try anything. We are just putting you in this so you're more....comfortable."

Nichole blinked, her breathing picking up. "No. NO! Don't put that on me! I am not crazy. I'm..I'm not. Candy _was_ here. She was here in the room with me. I swear. She was talking to me! She hit me!"

The officer then, for no reason tazered her, sending painful shocks throughout her body. She hollered out in pain begging the guard to stop. Only after her screams turned to gasping and choking for air, did he stop.

"There was no one in the room with you." the other guard stated as he pushed Nichole forward in her sitting position so he could strap the straight jacket on her. "I was watching you via the security cameras in here and you were talking to yourself. At one point you even slapped yourself and slammed yourself against the wall, begging and pleading yourself to stop. You are a danger to now not only everyone, but even yourself. You will need to wear this at all times when alone."

He took hold of her arms placing them inside the arms of the white itchy jacket. He pulled on the two straps attached to the arms and crisscrossed them, so her arms were folded across her chest in the awkward straight jacket position. He pulled tightly as he tied it behind her back.

The guard with the taser happy personality pushed her to the ground as they were done.

It was at that moment Nichole went into a daze. She completely lost it. Everything seemed pointless. Regardless of what Candy told her, she would never break free of Arkham. Never.

She wonder how long she would be able to live in the cell without food.

_Food!_

Thankfully they left the tray right next to her. Using her mouth only, she wolfed down the spongy mystery meat and (with much trouble) drank the water by painfully grasping the edge of the glass with her teeth and tilting her head back slowly to let the water pass down her throat.

Her stomach growled for more, but she did her best to ignore it miserable.

She looked down at herself. A few of her wounds had opened and now were staining the straight jacket itself red. Her pants her tattered at the end, and her feet were turning purple from the cold. Yes. Any longer she thought the toes on her feet would drop right off.

She rolled over so her back was to the door. She stared up in her fetal position to the window. She could still see the sun. It wasn't even noon yet and the pain was too much to handle.

The only thing she was thankful for (aside from the food) was that Candy was staying silent at the moment.

Nichole then wondered, how long until she died. How long would she be able so survive in the setting she was in. She gave herself two more days at maxium.

* * *

A guard entered Arkham Asylum, shutting the door quickly behind him. He did not bother to lower the scarf that was wrapped around his neck and covering his mouth and part of his nose. Arkham was just as cold as outside was, and it was the middle of winter.

The guard was dressed in his navy blue uniform, with his gun tucked away beside him and his various badges on display for the world to see. His eyes scanned the lobby of the asylum, until he decided to walk over to the lady behind the front desk.

"May i help you?" The lady asked, not bothering to look up from her AARP magazine. She was too transfixed with an artical about how to reduce her wrinkles that swarmed her face.

The guard cleared his throat before speaking in a low voice. "I am taking the afternoon shift and I need to know the hallway that includes such people as..Nichole Stevens."

* * *

**Kait:** Well Nichole has finally lost it. _(sad face)_

**Syd:** Yeah. I feel bad _(frowns)_

**Kait:** Well a new song is added to our Eye Candy soundtrack and this one I think can be Candy's theme song. _"Poker Face" by Lady GaGa._ If you listen to the song and listen to the lyrics thinking of this story and mainly Candy it fits so well.

**Syd:** And I would like to add that _"Boston" by Augustana _also fits well for this story. Especially with what Nichole is feeling about how people think she is a criminal when she is not.

**Kait:** Calling all artists. If you want to ever draw fanart for the story like other have (And i will say again all of you guys are really talented!) then please message us. Especailly if you do not know what to draw, because Sydney and I have a few favorite moments in the story so far that we would like someone to draw for us. Thanks in advance those who are interested.

**Sydney:** Guys just to let you know Kait and I are EXTREMELY excited for the next two chapter. Like seriously excited. _(jumps up and down)_

**Kait:** That we are! You should be too! But sadly you don't know what is in store next. Just know...it's epic.


	39. Mind Games

**Kait:** Wanna hear a fun fact? In the scene (in The Dark Knight) when the Joker is walking down the street shooting at cars while telling Batman to "HIT ME!", in the background you can see a Star bucks logo. Starbucks is taking over everywhere! Beware!

**Syd:** _(blinks)_ WOW Kait. Thank you very much for that random.. unimportant fact _(pats back)_

**Joker: **...I'm at a loss for words.

**Syd:** Anyways sorry for the delay! Kait and i had some scary moments while in the process of writing this.

**Kait:** So guys...Do we have a chapter for you _(grins wickedly)_

**Joker:** Oh right they have a chapter for you! Blame Syd for adding the WORST situation ever in one scene with Nichole and-

**Syd:** _(covers mouth)_ SHUSH! Dont spoil it! and I had the urge to lol.

**Kait:** _(nods)_ We will explain more after you read it. In the mean time, I think i am just going to stare at this piece of man candy _(pats the Joker)_

**Joker:** _(eyes widen as he struggles out of Syd's grip)_ No! No! Last time was enough!

**Syd:** Dude, NO ONE gets over staring at you =D

* * *

Hope is easily lost, but rarely gained. Hope takes a long time to build. And even if it's there, there are the negative thoughts that cloud one's mind as well as doubt which always raise too many questions. Once the "What if" questions start rolling in, it is just easier to give in and give up. Being hopeless gives the body the vibe it no longer wishes to fight back.

Nichole's body had received this vibe already and she was slowly wasting away to nothing.

Three days in Arkham had killed her spirits, as well as Candy's. Though the two of them were finally able to agree on something (that the Joker was better than Arkham even though Nichole despised him), both of them saw no further point to the fact Nichole agreed with Candy. This was due to the fact that just because she now knows this, doesn't change anything. She was still barred up in the cell, shivering constantly and in pain. The numbness in her body was urging her to itch and tear at her skin, but the straitjacket kept her arms immovable. Her skin felt like it was as hard as a rock against the cold cement floor.

Her clothes were still wet from the "shower" she took earlier that day and the stench of her own blood filled her nostrils.

It was a few hours past lunch. That was all Nichole knew, since the lunch cart passed by her cell. Her straitjacket made things even more uncomfortable and her numb arms were cramped. She knew that her wrists and elbows were probably twisted by now.

She remained on the floor in fetal position with her back to the door. Her eyes were shut as she tried desperately to think of somewhere warm like a beach. She tried to picture herself laying out in the sun on a hot summer day, instead of being in a cold damp cell in the middle of winter at Arkham Asylum.

It did not work. The pain she felt remained there taunting her. There wasn't a time, not even with the Joker, that she remembered this much pain.

That is, external pain we are talking about. He still gave her the worst emotional pains.

Her jaw was sore from her teeth constantly chattering. Nichole could feel her head pounding in pain from dehydration. Even when she tried her best to clamp her teeth and squeeze her eyes shut, the pain still remained unremitting.

She prayed and prayed that her pain would egg on her brain enough that soon her brain would shut down exhausted from the pain. And let her sleep. Even if it meant forever.

Slowly, and slowly, she became a rabbit, burrowing its head back into its hole.

She was embracing death, since in her mind (as well as Candy) escape was never going to happen. She wasn't about to fight her way out of the building. She could not even stand properly nor see well. Gordon was not going to be able to save her. What more could he do? Nothing in a box of evidence could help her now. Not after what Candy did. Not after her "confessional".

She shut her eyes and wondered how long she had left.

Nichole heard a faint sound, like a door opening. She opened her eyes, staring at the wall in front of her, which appeared rather blurry to her at the moment.

She then heard a door shut, and was able to realize someone was in her cell with her. She prayed it was the food cart man deciding to smuggle her something to eat, but she knew no one would be that kind in a place like Arkham.

Nichole did not bother to look up at the person in the room with her. She was hoping that they would just go away. If it happened to be one of the women from the showers sneaking out of their cell to kill her, let them.

_Please...Please be someone that will kill me. End my suffering please._ She thought in a daze to herself. She tried to blink a few times to clear her vision, but it remained blurry and the wall in front of her had the stones fading together in her eyes.

She felt something on her shoulder. As it touched her lightly she tried to shrug her shoulder to get it off, thinking it was a creepy crawler that found its way into the depressing cell. A few moments later she realized it was actually someone shaking her shoulder to get her attention.

She continued to shake lightly and her teeth were chattering as she slowly and painfully turned over to face the person shaking her. The person picked up their shaking of her shoulder the longer Nichole did not respond.

Once on her back, which started to tingle in pain from the sores and bumps feeling the weight of her upper body crushing them into the floor, she looked up in her blurry eye sight to see a guard in a navy uniform kneeling by her. Something black was by his mouth and nose covering it.

From her eyes, she thought the black was a tazor and that this guard before her was the one who found his enjoyment by tazoring her for no reason what so ever.

She screamed with the energy she had left in her weak body.

"NO! Get away from me! Leave me alone! Get that tazor away from me! Last time was enough!" She thrashed her body back and forth, sending the hand that had been shaking her awake flying off of her shoulder.

She batted at the person in a vain attempt to get them away from her, but this did absolutely nothing since her vision was horrible and caused her to miss the person by a long shot. They didn't even have to duck away.

The person lowered the blackness by their mouth and Nichole was able to really focus on it and see it was nothing but a scarf.

"Nichole. Hey, hey! Calm _down-nah._ It's just me." The Joker said in a hushed tone, obviously not wanting other guards to hear him and attract attention.

Her eyes widened as her stomach dropped. Her vision was returning slightly to normal and she saw his two scars that lined his makeup less face. She stopped shivering for a moment and stared at him in awe. Her breath caught and choked her in her throat. She heard Candy gasp in her mind.

_The monster._

The Joker returned the gaze eyeing her blood spattered body, clothes and face. He frowned seeing all the blood and wounds just on her legs and face. She had a strong scent to her that was sickening and smelled like waste products and at the moment she looked like a deer caught in the headlights.

She was in a daze.

Slowly, she began to crawl her head out of her rabbit hole.

He tried to get her to turn over so he could reach her back, but she did not budge. She froze up and all her muscles tensed. She let out short spurs of breath from her mouth as he got up himself, shoving her over on her side, and walked behind her. He withdrew a knife and cut away at the straps holding her straitjacket together.

Nichole still sat there doing nothing; too much shock to react. She stared ahead at door she now faced (since she had rolled over to her other side when she looked at the person in the room with her). As she felt the straps painfully holding her arms in the awkward position, the Joker returned to kneel in front of her.

He tugged on the straitjacket and was able to get it off Nichole, without causing her too much pain.

Her arms felt sprained once they were released.

It was then he was able to get an even closer look at her wounds. Even though he could not see her bare skin, except on her hands, feet and face, he was able to see the blood covering her frail body. Every inch of her was untouched by the menacing red. He then noticed she was soaking wet and her clothes were clinging tightly to her body.

Nichole could not believe this was happening. She could simply could not. It had to be a dream.

She became the rabbit again and poked her head out of her hole.

She reached up slowly and touched his arm that was closest to her.

_This can't be real._

She left her fingers there, and nearly jumped in shock to see that she actually was feeling the navy material that surrounded his arm. She enclosed her fingers around the loose material and looked back into the Joker's eyes. He was staring at her transfixed on what she was doing. His face became blurry right before her eyes.

He caught on that maybe she thought he was not really there.

Nichole's mouth curved into a small smile as tears streamed down her face. "Thank god..." she said softly to him.

The Joker's eyes widened as she smiled. It had been the first real and honest smile he had seen her give to him. "Nichole...you must be out of it." He told her, meaning to keep that statement to himself in thought, but ended up saying it aloud due to the fact he was in shock himself.

Whatever he said to her, she did not hear clearly, because she simply nodded and shut her eyes as more tears fell down her face. All other days she would be crying in fear upon seeing the Joker coming to take her away again. Or she would be feeling the biggest desire to bring revenge on him.

But not today.

Today she was relieved to be leaving such a horrible place. She would take his beatings now and even though she hated him with all her heart the fact he would not call her crazy for having Candy inside her was enough. And the fact he was not able to punch her like a dozen females at once was a good blow for her.

_Or wait a minute! Maybe this is not him!_

It did not hurt her to cry and her throat did not tense up from her tears. She felt a weight off her shoulders and her feelings of relief strayed her mind away from the fact she was still completely numb and shaking lightly from the cold.

_Nichole! We are free! Yes! I knew he'd come! _Candy yelled excitedly in her mind. _And damn, does he look hot in that cop outfit._

For once, Nichole did not mind Candy speaking to her in her mind. She opened her eyes yet again to look at him.

No. It was the Joker there. And she didn't give a care for the world.

He seemed very interested in her face at the moment. More or less her facial expression.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he stopped her by talking himself. "No time for chat doll face, we aren't out of the woods yet. We still have to get you outta here."

"We have to stop by Gordon's house though. He has to know that he doesn't have to keep me at his house anymore." Nichole stated weakly. A smile was still placed on her shivering lips.

The Joker blinked tilting his head, utterly confused. "What?"

"Gordon! Candy said that it was going to be either you or him that would have to keep me away from the bad people." She said, her voice was slurring and her eyes kept shutting. "Please take me to him! He shouldn't worry." She cried out desperately. Tightening her grip on his arm. The tunnel of her rabbit hole began to sink down lower into the dirt.

"Yup. Nichole you are definitely out of it. What have they been feeding you here?" the Joker asked to lighten the mood. He frowned again seeing her just there, not responding in her sarcastic pissed off mood, that she normally would when he spoke to her in that manner.

Suddenly, something didn't feel right to Nichole. She looked at her hand and screamed when she saw it was enclosed around the Joker's wrist.

"I can't feel anything!" She screamed at him with her eyes wide. She couldn't take in the fact that it was her hand touching the Joker. She couldn't feel the rough material of his sleeve that "her hand" was supposedly grabbing on to.

The Joker jumped in his spot, not because he was not expecting her to scream, but because he knew her screaming would attract attention. Something he did not want at the moment.

Her hand fell limply to the floor.

"Nichole. We'll get outta here and get you a tea or something to warm you up, just stop talking so loudly." He told her, trying to hush her loud voice.

The Joker stood up, offering her a hand. It took her a few tries, but she managed to take it. He pulled her up and she nearly fell when she applied pressure to her own two feet. A wave of dizziness and nausea crashed over her as the cell spiraled around her. She then began to feel tugs enclosing her, to keep her from spinning along with her cell.

"Nichole!" The Joker scolded. He quickly moved her so she crashed lightly against the wall. Her legs gave out under her as she slid her body down the wall. Her head fell forward lifelessly. She distantly heard the Joker say something to her, but it sounded as if he was speaking underwater.

"Nichole!" The Joker lightly slapped Nichole's cheek to get her to focus on him. Her eyes opened lethargically.

"I have to go check make sure no one is nosing around a corner. Just make it the the door kay? Hug the wall to you." The Joker nodded at her. Then he turned on his heel towards the door and left Nichole alone.

She felt an invisible force creep through her body. If only she wasn't so out of it, she would have realized that it was Candy, fighting through Nichole's weak body, trying to get her to stand up against the wall.

It took her about two minutes to make it to the opposite side of her to the door, hugging the wall the entire time, depending on it for support. Once she unknowingly made it there, the Joker headed back to her. She noticed behind him was a very vibrant red color on the ground by a blue blur. She could barely make out it was a person. To be precise a guard.

"Had to take care of a slight problem, but everything is alright now." He laughed.

He walked next to her, slowing his pace down with much irritation as she limped down the hallway even though she was out of it (still guided by Candy). She tried with all of her might to trudge her feet forward as she hugged the wall. She couldn't feel the ground beneath her bare, swollen, feet as she feared the height of falling.

"What...What if people see you." She choked out weakly. She wasn't so sure if it was her voice or not.

"Well then they meet the same fate as the one whose blood you're stepping in right now." He pointed to the ground.

Nichole did everything in her power not to vomit as she stepped bare foot over the pool of blood on the ground. They reached the end of the hallway and the Joker opened the set of double black doors.

Once outside, Nichole had to stand on her own, since no walls were next to her to support her weight. The bitter cold of winter air hit her, and the feelings of relief that blocked away how much pain she was in faded. She began shaking again. Her breathing became quick and swallowing. She sounded as if she was gasping for air, and this is what caught the Joker's attention as he stepped outside. He looked away from his black van he was staring at (which was a few yards away parked) and looked at her.

She was shaking and hugging her arms across her chest, keeping her hands on her shoulders rubbing them, but wincing in pain as she did so. Her skin, in the light of outside, showed him that she had a bluish purple tinge to it and her hands and feet looked by far the worst, almost looking like the complete shade of purple. Her wet clothing stuck to her body even tightly as goose bumps popped up on her pale skin.

She tried to take a step forward towards the black van she guessed was his. As her bare foot hit the cold cement ground, instant pain overwhelmed her. She had not stood by herself without wall support in many days. She tried to take another step, but felt so weak that her body did not respond to her. She felt her knees give out as she fell forward.

The hard, icy side walk suddenly flew up to her face.

Just before she hit the ground the Joker was able to side step over to her and catch her. He then lifted her off the ground.

He was surprised by how light she suddenly weighed after only being three days in his absence.

He hurried over to the van, carrying her in his arms. Nichole was limp in his arms, her hands dangling off to the side as she shook in the freezing air. Her whole body felt like it was going to fall to the ground from the weight of her numb skin. In his arms she felt freezing and wet. Some of the water and blood from her clothing starting to soak onto his guard uniform.

He got to the van and opened the passenger door with much difficulty, due to Nichole. Once open he placed her in the seat, buckling her seat belt. He knew with his driving and the condition she was in, if he let her be not strapped in the seat she'd be flying and smashing into the windows.

He slammed the door shut and walked in an inconspicuous manner to the other side of the car and got in. He hoped no one inside Arkham had discovered Nichole's empty cell and the dead guard laying in the hall way near it.

He started the car and sped forward out of Arkham and over the bridge leading out of the Narrows. He glanced at Nichole and had to blink twice.

Her head was leaning on her shoulder. At this point she was shaking violently. She was shivering uncontrollably and her teeth chattering was so loud and constant that it sounded painful for her teeth even. Her eyes remained closed. Her face was paler than it had been before, and her fingers were spazzing out of control. She kept moaning in pain and short breaths came out of her mouth.

He took a sharp turn to the left, causing Nichole (even though she was securely buckled) to fall to the right and slam her head into the window. She groaned as her chattering teeth sunk deeply into her bottom lip from impact. Blood flowed out of her purple lip and was now dripping over her chin.

He reached over, trying not to keep his eye off the road and turned on the heat to full blast in the car. He then reached over and gave Nichole's face a small light slap. "Nichole? You alright?" He asked her.

Nichole responded with a moan.

He gave desperately gave her a few more slaps on her face, when she did not respond to him. She just kept shivering. "Nichole? Yoouuu hoooo? Are you still in there?"

Nichole was able to weakly turn her head, which to her felt like a massive rock, towards the Joker. "So......C-c-cold." She told him in nothing but a whisper. Her eyes turned into white slits as they rolled to the back of her head.

"The heat is on. You'll be better in an hour." He stated. Or....at least he hoped.

He sped up, permitting himself to glance at her once every time they changed streets. It seemed she got worse and worse as they went on. He wasn't worried though, he was not going to allow himself to get nervous. He figured in his mind, she was just cold. Well....very cold, but nothing life threatening.

He came within sight of the warehouse and quickly pulled into the parking lot. He climbed out of the car and walked over to Nichole's side, unbuckling her.

As soon as she was free of her restraints, her body fell to the right (as she had been leaning on the window). Her body fell out of the car, and she let out a gasp as the sidewalk came closer and closer to her face.

The Joker acted quickly catching her once again. He wrapped one arm under her legs and the other around her back and scooped her up, going to carry her inside, as he started to get the gut feeling that something was majorly wrong with her.

Her clothes were wet and they were outside in freezing winter weather.

Out of nowhere, she grabbed his jacket.

"PLEASE DON'T TURN ON THE COLD WATER! PLEASE DON'T TURN ON THE COLD WATER!" She screamed as tears pooled down her cheeks. Her fists were clenching the rough fabric of his jacket.

"Nichole! There is no water on you!" He yelled loudly at her trying to get her attention, for she seemed to be in a daze and not completely "there" in the head.

However he did know that he was lying for there was water saturated in her clothing.

"No! Don't! Please don't turn it on! I didn't do anything!" She continued to scream to the air. "I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING! LEAVE ME ALONE! PLEASE!!! HELP!!!!!"

He felt her whole body shaking against him, and he did not care that she was getting him soaked anymore. He looked down at her as she cried. Her cries began to turn into choking.

Images of her in the shower room, the women turning on the water and pushing Nichole slowly over invaded her mind and she felt as if it was really happening.

The big woman with saggy, hideous breasts was now carrying her under the raining shower head of ice!

"DON'T BRING THE FOUNTAIN OVER ME!"

The Joker half jogged into the warehouse. He yelled upon entering to his men, "Turn the heat up as high as it goes! And boil some water for tea and bring up some food! Do it now or I will serve you up on a silver platter for her!"

He went up the stairs, almost tripping when Nichole suddenly started thrashing her legs; kicking and screaming still.

The fountain of ice raining down on her began to actually penetrate her flesh.

"No! Please! I am begging you! Don't do this! The water is cold! Yesterday was enough!"

Once in his room, he shut the door with his foot and laid Nichole on his bed. Her shivering and convulsing escalated. To him she looked as if she was having a seizure. The pain in her eyes, the constant shaking, and the menacing blue coloring to her skin heightened her inner terrors. She choked out as she moved her hands up and down on the fabric of the bed sheet beneath her.

"I can't feel my hands! I can't feel them!" She screamed.

She moaned and groaned as her eyes rolled back to the back of her head revealing the terrifying white slits again.

The Joker heard someone place something outside his door and opened it momentarily to retrieve the plate of food and glass of warm water. He placed it on the desk in the room, and turned back to Nichole as she yelled.

"Please! Take me out of the water!! I'm so cold! STOP IT!" She shook uncontrollably like a maniac.

The Joker had a thought crossing his mind at that moment. An inner debate really. He stared at her, seeing her in the most pain he had ever witnessed her in. This sort of ticked him off, because it was not him who inflicted it, but someone else did.

He questioned whether he should just let her suffer and die. He did not know what to do at the moment. He was not doctor, and he most certainly was not going to bring her to a hospital for obvious reasons. He never in his life had to deal with trying to save a person from any sort of illness, let alone one that looked deadly. When he dropped her off on the side of the street, he knew she would be arrested and put on trial. He just wanted her to go through the emotional abuse on the trial and such. He knew that she would even be sent to Arkham, but he did not know that she would end up being abused **this **badly. When he was at Arkham he was not treated like that.

How much things had changed.

Nichole brought him away from his inner thoughts and debate when she screamed, "I'll do anything...ANYTHING! Just stop with the water! Stop hitting me! Stop beating me! Please! CANT YOU SEE I'VE ALREADY HAD ENOUGH ABUSE FROM THAT MONSTER?!" She pleaded as if she was in agony and on the verge of death. "I'm sorry about your families! I DIDN'T MEAN TO! I swear!"

He licked his lips watching her shake and toss-and-turn in his bed, when he was not the one to cause her pain at all.

A single last thought crossed his mind. As he watched her weak and defenseless form he thought about how easy it would be for him to jump on top of her and take advantage of her weak state. He could have his way with her and she would not even be able to do a thing about it, and most likely she would not remember it ever happening.

"Stop! My God stop! All you women are insane! Stop it!" Nichole screamed. Her screams were so loud that it senT a ringing sound into his ears once her screams paused every other second or two. He was certain everyone in the warehouse would be able to hear her screams. Even the time he whipped her with his belt her screams were not as persistent and loud.

He quickly diminished his thoughts of taking advantage of her. He wasn't_ that _cold. If it had been any other person...maybe.

With his mind set on now trying to save Nichole from whatever illness she had, he suddenly panicked looking at her in pain figure. How was he suppose to save her?

He stood by her looking down at her, while his mind searched for ideas.

Think.

Think.

Think.

Idea!

Hypothermia…. he did not know everything about it, he knew it would be deadly if left untreated and also could make the victim have hallucinations. He also knew that if her body continued to drop in temperature, that her organs would fail and she could die.

Warming Nichole up would be the thing he would have to do.

The Joker went to his closet and pulled out three spare blankets that were in there. He placed them next to the bed, near the comforter that had fallen on the floor from the morning when he got up. He was about to place blankets on her, when he realized her clothes were soaking wet. That fact was making everything completely worse.

He drummed his fingers on his thigh thinking, if she would freak out if he were to take off her soaking wet clothing. Because he knew cold wet things stay wet. She would never be fixed or warm wearing the bloody mess she had on.

Screw it.

He leaned forward, pulling out the knife in his coat pocket and cut away at her blood stained shirt and pants. Feeling how cold her clothes were, he knew it would not be an easy task to warm her up. He threw the wet, ripped up shit into the bathroom, followed by her tattered pants. Her clothing sounded like a wet mop as it landed.

He returned his gaze to Nichole who now was in nothing but a soaking wet bra and undergarments that looked like they had shrunk and being tightly pressed into her skin, due to the fact they got smaller from being wet constantly. He took a breath as his eyes skimmed over is favorite parts of her. Her skin was covered in goose bumps and due to the cold he could easily see the outline of her nipples underneath her transparent, wet bra.

Snap out of it!

Her shaking was only a constant vibration now. Her eye lids, and ears turned blue as her skin continues to pale right before his eyes. He also got a good look at all the wounds on her.

All the wounds that he did not inflict.

His mouth went agape looking at all her dark bruises, and the blue coloring of her skin everywhere. It was not just her hands and feet that looked like a serious problem, but everywhere. He could see her chest moving up and down in an erratic pattern as her breathing was short and gasping. He could not stop himself from placing one hand on her stomach and feeling the inflicted wounds severity. He quickly took his hand away as soon as he placed it on her bare stomach. She was freezing. It felt like he had placed his hand on a black of ice.

Her quivering purple lips did not cease once her wet clothing was off and she did not open her eyes. She was still in her illusion that people were pouring water on her in Arkham. She then continued thrashing her arms and legs; kicking and screaming at people who were not really there.

He licked his lips, eyes darting around the room as he slightly panicked more, but he kept his nerves in his mind and not shown on his face. He could not leave her in the bra and undergarments she was in. They were so tight from shrinking that they were cutting into her skin and not to mention they were soaking wet as well. Once he got them off, he couldn't just leave them flat off of her; he knew if she got better that she would be furious.

An idea came to mind. When he had gotten her Candy outfit and candy cane pole out of evidence right after he escaped from Arkham, all the items were in a cold case box filled with other various things that the police confiscated from his previous house. When he ordered one of his goons to get the Candy outfit, they just brought the whole box instead of going through it to just bring the dress itself.

In the box were a few of Nichole's items, including a bra, undergarments, and a few shirts and pants that were still usable.

With that in his mind he went back to the closet he had pulled the blankets from and opened the single box that was on the closet floor. He opened it and sifted through the contents of it, until he retrieved her womanly items.

He dashed back to Nichole, who had been screaming and shaking this entire time but the Joker's ears were starting to get use to the loud noises.

He grabbed for his knife again and placed a hand on her heaving, freezing chest, to hold her still and hesitated. Through the white bra's material, he could make out all of the fading marks that he gave her and her new ones from Arkham. He knew that he would have to have all of the willpower to not stare at her once she was naked.

Something else caught his attention. Her heartbeat, that he became so fond of, was now barely felt. Her heart beat was slowing and slowing. If he didn't act fast, he would never be able to feel if beat ever again.

Nichole's screaming had lowered to moans and groans of agony as she shook and shivered under his hand. She seemed to be completely unaware of the Joker and what he was striking to do. Her purple eye lids fluttered over her unseeing eyes. Her skin continued to drain of its color.

Slowly, he cut the fabric of her blood smeared bra between the breasts and then the straps. He then quickly used his other hand to reach behind her and toss her sliced clothing in the bathroom area.

He held his breath as he reached for the sides of her underwear now, cutting the straps by the sides of her thighs. He closed his eyes as he threw the now destroyed underwear into the bathroom as well.

He had will power, but if he even got a hint of desire by looking at her all hell would break loose.

Once she was free of her freezing wet clothing, Nichole's gasping got louder as she convulsed more roughtly; the wet, newly exposed skin hitting the air of the room sent more goose bumps up her body and more shivers down her spine.

She was only faintly aware that someone was in the room with her.

To stop his tempting thoughts, he grabbed Nichole and tried to sit her up so he could place the two items on her. She went into a fury of kicks and screams when he tried to do this. "No! Get off of me! Please no more water! No more!" She shoved at his chest, pleading.

"Nichole. Nichole! There is not water! I'm trying to help you! Stop!" The Joker said trying to calm her down.

He couldn't believe it.

Never, ever, did he think those words would ever escape his chapped lips.

She started to cry as her struggles enervated slightly.

For the first time when he got a good look at her naked, exposed, battered up body, the Joker did not have to urge to upset her.

He then placed her freezing arms through the straps of her bra before reaching behind her and hooking it up in the back. He then pushed her shivering body down as he leaned back and placed her kicking ankles through the loops of her underwear, closing his eyes as he slid it over her thighs.

With both on, he thought with some sliver of hope that this would do it. With her wet clothing of her body would naturally warm up. After staring at her for another minute he saw this to not be the case and tensed in his spot; he continued to take in every detail of her marks.

How he wished he knew that this would be what Nichole would go through at Arkham. Had he known this, he would have just beaten her himself, because he knew she would just bleed from his wounds and not be on the verge of freezing to death.

He still did not know the full details of what happened.

He wasn't sure if he even wanted to.

"Heat. She needs heat." He muttered to himself.

He could see her body was still wet as it was, from her discarded clothing and the sheet underneath her was soaking wet. He picked her up and with the hand that was wrapped around her legs, he tried his best to get the sheet off of the bed. Once that was finished he replaced her on the bed and looked at the blankets on the floor.

The gears in his head started turning and he thought of an idea. He knew body heat could be transferred from one person to another.

He immediately took off his fake guard jacket and white undershirt. While he worked on taking off his navy pants Nichole's screams turned to cries of fear. Not of him though. He kicked off his shoes and took off his socks.

"No more! I didn't kill your children! Candy...CANDY DID IT! STOP! I can't feel my body!" Her screaming picked up.

Wearing nothing but his boxers, he got into the bed next to her. He sat up reaching down for all the blankets on the floor and placing them over both of them. Three blankets and one comforter covered them now.

He laid down and turned to face Nichole. She was on her back screaming at the ceiling.

Still in her own world.

He reached one arm over and pulled her closer to him. She resisted thinking he was someone at Arkham.

"No! Let go of me!" She pleaded.

The Joker was able to turn her over so she faced him. He pulled her freezing cold body to his bare chest and pushed her into him. He jumped in his spot at how cold she was against him, and let out a small grunt at how uncomfortable it was. She kicked at his legs, sending spurs of coldness to his bare legs.

"Shh shh shh Nichole." He tried to shush her while moving his hand to near her waist, to fully push the front of her body into him to give her all the heat he could. Her feet and parts of her legs were not touching him, as well as the two areas of her that were covered by cloth that separated her bare skin from his.

He felt her whole body shaking against him and causing the bed beneath them shake as well. He constricted his arms around her back. He moved his hand back up to by her upper back slowly rubbing his hand on every inch of her back to warm her. She moved her head away from him and screamed.

"No more water! Turn it off!"

He moved his hand up to the back of her head and pushed it into the space below his chin. "Shh...No one is going to get ya." He told her softly, trying to calm her down. He shocked himself at how calm he sounded, for having his mind be buzzing with nerves. He was sort of thankful she was out of it, because had she fully been able to comprehend what he was saying she would have some snotty remark saying that in reality she was not safe with him.

Which she was not. Even in her weak and defenseless state, the Joker almost was tempted to jump her. She was in constant danger. But she was lucky. Lucky that the Joker prefered her to be "there in the mind" when he wanted to inflict pain on her.

She stopped screaming and now sobbed into his chest, leaning herself weakly into him. She was still shaking, and never opened her eyes.

She just kicked her legs at him, and did not stop. It was almost as if he was smothering her to make her stop, but he was making sure not to block her breathing. Each kick of her icy stone legs, made him grunt but he endured.

After a few minutes, she finally reckognized the familiar feel of heat.

She gasped and constricted her arms around his back. Her ice cold fingers sent chills of her own up his spine.

He was slowly getting used to how cold she was against him. He slowly stroked her head, pushing the stray hair out of her face by putting it behind her ears. He could not look down at her, for her head was being pushed right into his neck and upper chest, but he did not need to look at her. She was suppose to be as close as possible to get the full affect of warmth. He left his hand from her head for a moment, pulling the blankets more upwards to cover her shoulders, as they had fallen down a bit from her shaking and thrashing.

He returned his hand to her, this time on her back. He slowly rubbed her cold chilled back up and down leaving no place untouched. He winced running his hands over all the bumps and bruises that stained her back, and sometimes crusty dried blood. She was an absolute mess.

At this moment Nichole let out a very loud gasp and opened her eyes. She blinked a few times, her vision completely blurry. All she could see was the Joker's chest right smack dab in her face. She could still not feel her body. Numbness consumed her.

She felt him holding her close to him, stroking her backside. The last thing she had remembered was being placed in his car...then everything went blank.

She stopped kicking her legs and tried to back away from him. "W-W-What i-i-is g-going on-" She whimpered, realizing she was shivering nonstop.

The Joker pulled her back close to his warming chest. "Shh shh shh...everything is going to be alright Nikki." He patted the back of her head like a dog. "Don't talk you'll waste your energy. Try to sleep. Sleep off the cold."

She gasped for air as she shut her eyes again.

She wiggled closer to his body. Her legs were the only parts that were left out from the heat. Using her feet, she found his legs, rubbing hers against his. He grunted from her freezing toes. She shook more as she continued to rub her legs against his desperately for heat. He rubbed her back more, shushing her gently.

Eyes still closed, gasping breaths still heard. She couldn't take it anymore as she moved her entire leg, toe to thigh, between his own. She sighed feeling much comfortable and enjoying the heat as he entwined her legs with his.

He adjusted his leg so it was on top of hers.

There seemed to not be one part of his body that didn't cover hers.

Once Nichole was asleep, all her shivers still coming out in her sleeping form, the Joker turned his head slowly at the bedside table which held a plate of pizza. He tilted his head at it seeing it was rather moldy. He rolled his eyes.

"If you want something done right you gotta do it yourself." He muttered to himself.

After a few hours, he looked down at Nichole once more and slowly detached himself from her, crossing her bony arms across her own chest to keep her warm. He then slide off the bed and reached down retrieving his jacket and putting it on.

He looked back and Nichole and set the blanket back up so it would fully cover her body. Then he quietly took his pants and put them on heading out of the room.

The Joker returned about ten minutes later with three peanut butter and jelly sandwiches he forced his goons to make for him and a cup of hot coco he snagged off of the counter. He placed the plate and cup on the table and sat back in the bed next to Nichole.

He poked her shoulder once. "Nichole."

She remained in her shiver filled sleep.

"Nikki. Wake up." He picked up the loudness in his voice.

She mumbled (more of a faint gasping sound). Her green eyes darted open and she peered up at the Joker, who sat with his back leaning on the bed's headboard.

"Nichole ya gotta eat. I don't know what they fed ya at Arkham, but...most likely the dogs ate better than you." He stated.

She tried to nod her head. Her vision was very poor and she could not make out the full details of the Joker. All she could see was his outline. She could see he had taken off his cop hat, and was now just in the pants and jacket, minus a shirt. He still had no makeup on and from the look of the face that was staring at her.

Nichole tried to sit up, smelling food in the area causing her stomach to roar with life. In her attempt to sit up, leaning weight on her hands caused her arms to shake back and forth until she fell back down into a laying position.

The Joker rolled his eyes and used both his arms to get her into a sitting position. He leaned her back on the headboard behind them and then turned towards the plate of food placing it on his lap. Nichole who was still unable to hold herself upright, began to lean to the right slightly and her body started to fall towards the empty space on bed to the right of her.

"Whoa timber!" The Joker yelled, grabbing a hold of the shoulder of hers closest to him and hoisting her back up. "Alright Nichole looks like I can be your kick stand." He took her and made her lean on his shoulder, her head resting on his jacket covered shoulder.

He took a sandwich off the plate and brought it up to her mouth. Nichole could not clearly see what he was placing by her mouth, so she did not open her mouth at first, thinking it was actually his fist trying to punch her.

The Joker sighed pushing the bread onto her lip. "You gonna take it or not Nichole-lah?"

She opened her mouth and felt the moist bread hit her taste buds. The Joker shoved more into her mouth, letting her chew and swallow before giving her another piece. Once she was done with the first she immediately moved on the other two sandwiches eating them up.

The Joker reached over for the hot coco and brought the cup up by her lips. She weakly sipped it slowly the warm liquid traveling down her throat making her feel a bit sickly.

She kept making a loud slurping sound, since her upper lip was not correctly fastened the the cup, but the Joker did not mind at the moment. He barely was paying attention to what his hand with the cup was doing and ended up tilting it too quickly sending a rush of hot water up her nose. She choked, causing the Joker to tear away from his thoughts and quickly lower the cup to stop from choking her.

He placed the cup on the end table. The Joker then yawned silently to himself. He looked down at Nichole once more, noticing her eyes shutting from exhaustion. He shrugged his shoulder, causing her to flinch, but keep her head on his shoulder. She was too weak to take it off and too tired to make any movements at all. The Joker licked his lips watching her sleep. She subconsciously wrapped her arms around him, still in need of heat.

He leaned his head on hers and shut his own eyes, seeing that now would be a good time to rest. A very good time.

* * *

For the next two days Nichole remained in the Joker's bed exhausted, recovering from her hypothermia and slight flu like systems she got from Arkham. She remained in a daze like state of mind. She, herself, felt as if nothing was real to her. Everything seemed to not be there. The walls of the room changed colors to her, sometimes they would be green other times black. It felt like the world was crumpling beneath where she laid. The mattress that she laid on would sink and sink beneath her body weight until it felt like it consumed her up whole.

Even when the Joker was in the room with her, it felt as if he was not. To her it was almost like being in a dream while awake. She questioned to herself if things were really happening.

_Am I really breathing right now?.....Am I really alive? Am I here?.._

The Joker noticed her odd behavior and shrugged it off as part of her illness.

Nichole would think that she could feel a man carry her to the bathroom and set her down on the floor near the toilet. She knew that her feeling was real when she weakly sit herself on the actual toilet. The Joker would leave the room and let her do her business then pick her up and carry her back to the bed when she finished. While in the bathroom it took Nichole a rather long time to lift herself up to the toilet. Even though she was no longer freezing, her hands still felt numb and like two thick icicles attached to her arm, dragging her down the the floor. When she sat down, her whole body would droop forward and her arms would dangle down to the floor swaying back and forth.

Her head felt as if it was as light as air, and her mind was no longer in the space of her head. Just hot air.

The Joker after retrieving her from the bathroom would then go downstairs and grab her something to eat. The first day he had to feed her, but by the second day she could grab at the food and place it in her own mouth. Though the food had to be finger food and big, since her fingers still did not bend all the way. He would place the food next to her on the bed and she would eat it while she remained laying down.

The food tasted like nothing in her mouth. Her taste buds numb as well. It would not satisfy her to eat also. Any food she ate gave her an intense stomach ache afterwards. She would lay on the bed and clutch her stomach with her hands, in some vain attempt to squeeze the pain away. Whenever she touched her own skin with her fingers, she was reminded that she was awake.

The afternoon she would be alone in his bed mostly asleep, but sometimes awake and staring with her fading blurry vision at the walls. On and off she'd slip into the dark abyss known as "dreaming" and wake up in terror from the nightmares she had. They all felt so real to her, and since her state of mind at the moment was a bit out of tune, it was hard for her to tell when she was sleeping and when she was awake.

The thoughts that passed through her head were not as loud to her. She could hear herself think, but it was as if someone was muffling her thoughts. It couldn't be Candy though, Nichole barely heard Candy speak the past two days. She figured all her energy was going into fighting off the illness, that Candy was left out in the cold.

She hesitated in her thoughts.

Who even was Candy?

Nichole was starting to get frustrated by her fading and reappearing memories as well.

The complete silence of the Joker's room was neither comforting nor terrifying. It was...unsettling.

She didn't ever turn over on her side to get comfortable. Her breathing was not even making sounds. Sometimes...she wanted to scream though. Just to hear a sound. Just to fathom a single note or syllable. Just so she could remind herself she was alive. Just so she could hold onto her sanity, which she knew had been slipping away while in Arkham.

But then she would think to herself..._No...I already lost my sanity...The day I looked into the mirror and saw her there and not me. That was the day. And maybe not even that day....Maybe the day I met __**him**__. Maybe the moment he grabbed me at that party. That...that was the day I lost my sanity. It was too inconspicuous to tell at the time. But I left my sanity with Tom. _

_I will never get it back...._

She couldn't bring herself to cry though. Though her thoughts were depressing and the pain she felt was intense, she could never focus on one emotion. Her emotions felt drained, leaving the pit of her stomach empty.

She felt herself sinking down.

Sinking down.

Sinking.

Down.

Down.

Down.

How much further could you go?

It's interesting when one spends two days with their eyes mostly closed as they sweat and tingle. Nichole would even sometimes wonder why her body would sweat while she shivered from the cold.

Was her body trying to reject her?

Bit by bit Nichole was getting more flashbacks of events that occurred in the past week. She couldn't separate which ones were real and which ones were not. Some of the real and unreal flashbacks she would get were so terrifying that her mind would kick itself out of her own body for a few moments to escape the visions her body was giving her.

Sometimes her mind would kick her out of her body so high up that she would sometimes see herself while it was floating above a bloody mess on a bloody bed.

She was a rabbit in her hole, burrowed in her dream.

Hands would work their ways over her body. They would sometimes feed her imaginary food.

The Joker would be gone most of the day, until around night when he would return with a plate of food setting it by Nichole for her to eat while he took off his makeup in the bathroom and prepared himself for sleep.

The sounds of him in the bathroom, in a way hurt her ears, even though they were simple turning on of a facet or the flushing of a toilet. She was half asleep most of the time now a days so all sounds would hurt her delicate ears. As they would reach her ear drum, something in her would cause the sound to sound distorted and not realistic. It scared her. Why? She couldn't tell you.

After the Joker was finished in the bathroom he would come into the room removing the plate from the bed and putting it on the table. Then he'd climb into bed sometimes in just his boxers other times in his pants and lay next to her, letting her have most of the blankets.

Chaos cannot afford to take a day off.

On the third day of her sickness, Nichole awoke feeling much better than the past two days. She still had a massive headache and her bruises and back killed her, but she didn't feel as cold as she had been anymore. When the Joker was gone in the afternoon she even stood up on her own for a few minutes to stretch her legs and go to the bathroom. Her movements flowed underneath her body. It would feel like another invisible force (not Candy) took a hold of her feet, causing her to slide over to her destinations on a ground with no friction. She could feel her own trails moving as if they were behind her feet.

The feeling of her feet taking each small and slow step on the floor, made her head sway back and forth in a daze. Though her stomach and temperature were fading back to normal, she simply could not shake off the feeling of not being "all there". Things still looked like a dream to her.

That afternoon Candy's voice also returned to its normal habit of talking and taunting. _Tomorrow you'll be all better Nichole! Then you can go back to your ungrateful self!_ Candy growled.

Nichole ignored her, something about Candy's voice different today. It wasn't Candy's fault, but more Nichole's. All voices to her seemed to echo in her head and sound as if the person was far away from her. Very far.

Nichole's vision was also getting better. She could see most of the detail of things, but a slight blur was still in her line of sight wherever two colors met. They would blur together at the edges.

The Joker returned home like normal and brought her food. She was able to sit upright and eat it all. She and the Joker did not exchange conversations much in the past few days. Nichole figured he was waiting for her to be fully healed to strike at her again.

But now he felt nothing more than an unrealized figment.

She remembered something she taught in history once...how ancient tribes would take in victims to tortured and then heal them fully just so they could tortured them again. The process would repeat until death. She involuntarily shuttered thinking of that.

She placed the plate on the table herself and laid down, her back to the Joker and her face to the wall. She would not be surprised if he decided to start making moves on her since she looked and was acting slightly better, but was surprised when she felt him climb into bed and tossed and turn into a comfortable position not bothering to touch Nichole.

She shut her eyes, trying to ignore her headache which seemed to get worse and worse as the day went on. Sleep came quickly to her...but it was not a very welcoming sleep. The dream she had by far was the most frightening dream she ever had.

In front of Nichole was all her students posing for their class pictures. Nichole smiled rushing to them as they beckoned her over. She stood near them and smiled at the professional photographer. Some wrapped their arms around Nichole's shoulder in a friendly matter. She heard the girls in the class giggle as they made silly slutty faces. Nichole could even smell Ariel's mango perfume she used and showed off to the class once.

_I can't be dreaming._ _I smell things. I hear things. I can't be dreaming._ She smiled to herself.

The photographer held out one hand which held the photo clicker as it was a very old fashion camera.

"Smile for the birdie." He told them.

Nichole froze. She knew that voice.

The camera man poked his head out from under the curtain to reveal the Joker dawned in his full Joker attire smiling at the crowd. But his eyes were locked on Nichole. "I said...smile." He told her tilting his head.

A chill ran up her spine as he licked his lips.

_I know him! _

The sound of his tongue against his chap lips seemed to be the loudest they had ever been. It echoed into her ears as he clicked the camera button, causing an explosion nearby to go off.

Nichole fell through a different portal of scenes. She glanced to her left to see her house erupting in flames and her dog running out of the house with his tail on fire yelping in pain. The sound of him yelping was like nails to a chalk board.

She ran over to him, trying desperately to put out the fire. "Atticus!" She screamed to him. "Come here! I can save you! I'll put the fire out! Come here!"

She ignored the feeling of her hands becoming black and burned.

She looked around desperately.

She went over to the nearest fire hydrant in a panic, still blocking her ears from the piercing sound. She frantically used one hand to try and unscrew a screw on the hydrant to open it to release water. It did not budge so she searched around until she found a random wrench in the middle of the street. She picked it up almost dropping it in her mad dash back to the fire hydrant. Once she reached where she thought the hydrant was she gasped only to discover Gordon standing where the hydrant used to be.

"Gordon!"

He was there. He was her white knight and savior.

As she ran up to him she felt herself being pulled into another downward spiral.

She was back in the interrogation room she was put in after the trial. Gordon was there.

They were in the embrace they were last in before she was taken to Arkham.

_I love you… and your life is too precious to go to waste. _

Those were the last words he said to her, but now they were taken into a different context.

A romantic one.

Nichole cried into his chest as her tiny hands gathered the back of his jacket into fists; trying everything in her power she could to hold on to the dear man important in her life

She then leaned back slightly and lifted her hands to cup his sobbing face.

He looked down at her. His kind, crystal blue eyes peered to her in sadness through the frames of his glasses. His one hand rubbed her back while his other hand tucked a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear, his thumb catching the tears that streamed down her face.

She closed her eyes and leaned in, taking in the musky scent of him. He leaned forward and met her lips with quiet desperation.

The kiss became more passionate as Nichole then ran her fingers through his soft, brown hair.

It didn't matter that he was married. He didn't matter that he was a father. And it didn't matter that he was over twenty something years older than her.

The kiss deepened as he ran his tongue across her bottom lip for permission. She opened her mouth as their tongues caressed each other gently.

She leaned in more as she let her tongue explore his mouth.

Her eyes snapped open when she felt hard scar tissues in the inside of his cheek. She then felt hard pressed against her face.

She suddenly fell out of the interrogation room and was now back on the street staring at Gordon with a wrench in her hand. It was a flashback.

Gordon was crying; sobbing loudly at her. "Nichole look what you did. Look what you caused." He pointed to his left. Nichole followed his finger and saw Gotham City in flames. All her students ran out of the building, choking on the thick black smoke in the air. A piercing scream left her horror struck lips as she watched them, not burn but choke to death from the smoke. Rising from the smoke was laughter. Laughter she would recognize anywhere. She could not see where the Joker was, but knew he was in the fire somewhere basking in his glory and his chaos.

Her eyes darted from one dropping body to the next, her whole body shaking in disbelief. Nichole tried to throw down her wrench and run to them, but the wrench would not leave her hand.

She looked down at her wrench to see it was actually the candy cane pole. It was attached to the skin of her hands.

Police officers surrounded at her pointing and chanting. "Murderer. Murderer."

She screamed at them. "That's a lie! It's a lie!" She spun around staring at all of their glaring eyes as she felt herself get smaller and smaller. Her worries dragged her down and her pain made her weak. The world was finally closing in on her.

Just as they were about to pounce on her Nichole shut her eyes. She suddenly heard no noise at all. No screaming and no roaring fire. No chanting by officer and certainly no screams that frequently left her mouth. She opened her eyes again to see she was in darkness. Complete darkness.

She turned around and there was Ariel. Staring blankly at her with no emotion.

Nichole cried out and hugged Ariel tightly without letting the teen even react to her. "Ariel. Oh my god Ariel you're safe. I thought you burned with Gotham."

She stroked Ariel's hair gently, feeling an enormous weight off her shoulders. She did it. She saved at least one student. One person she was able to keep from the hands of the monster.

So suddenly and so quickly Ariel melted in Nichole's arms. She melted into a pile of blood that drenched Nichole soaking wet. She screamed out in horror staring at the puddle of blood surrounding her. It grew and grew until it was up to her waist. She paddled her way through the blood. It started to get high enough to just under her chin. She tried to swim in it, but something was weighing down her hands. She couldn't move.

She pleaded for help.

She was going to drown in the blood of Ariel.

No not just Ariel's blood.

But the blood of all who died because of her. All who had a single wound from her. All whose lives were affected by her. The blood of all in Gotham City.

She saw an open door. A space of darkness not drenched in blood. She was able to save herself and escape the blood. Once on a single patch of dry black land, everything disappeared; the blood leaving no trail behind it. The darkness returned.

Everything around her did not matter though. The painful blur of a thousand bricks being in her head and forcing her to her knees from the intensity was what mattered. The bone in her neck felt as if it was no longer there, and her head was free falling back and forth like a bobble head. She could not leave her head slanted too much in the same position though, fearing it would fall off or force her to lie down. She could not lay down, not now.

Not when she could see a dark purple and green figure slowly emerging from the darkness and headed straight for her. She screamed out. "No! Go away! Get away from me!"

Panic set in as she turned herself around on her hands and knees and began to crawl in the opposite direction as the Joker.

As she crawled her eyelids began to slowly meet up with one another and fully touch, before she would immediately darted them away from one another desperately trying to keep them open.

_Such intensity could not be felt in a dream. _She told herself as she heard a loud noise that caused her left arm to give out for a brief second as she crawled.

It came as a shook to her when she realized the sound was of her own screaming. She glanced back to see the Joker gaining on her. His footsteps echoed in her mind. They were so loud it caused a loud ringing noise to start in her ear drums, one that often would happen if one were to step outside of a loud concert for a few moments not able to hear a single thing.

She could feel his presence behind her. The footsteps of his were not even mattering anymore, but the pain of each step. Each hand she placed on the ground as she crawled to push herself forward, that pain overtook her.

Her body would not move any longer. Her chest was getting lower and lower to the ground and was starting to skim the black surface she crawled on. Her mind was demanding her to lie down and give up. It could not take anymore. She was going to be sick to her stomach; she could already feel the bile start to rise in her throat.

She was stopped so suddenly, when she felt a pressure on her back pushing her down. She felt her chest hit the ground and her arms being crushed by it. She turned her head, so it wasn't being pressed into the ground and now could see the Joker had caught up to her. He placed a foot on her back and crushed her into the floor.

She felt him kick her in the side, forcing her to lay on her back and stare up into his eyes. They were not the dark black tunnel color they normally were. They were deep red and looked as if they had flames in them slowly crackling and kindling bigger. As she stared into the eyes of the monster, the J scar on her face began to bleed. The blood seeped into her mouth and down her neck. A cold sweat formed on her hairline.

The Joker pulled his pocket knife from his jacket and smiled in a friendly way at her. He placed his foot on top of her stomach and licked his lips. "Time to skin the runaway cat." He brought his knife down to her stomach and ripped her stomach open.

It was at that moment Nichole woke from her dream screaming loudly. Her scream rang in her ears after it faded away from her mouth. She sat up in the bed, placing her head between her blanketed legs trying to slow her breathing down.

"Nichole! Nichole! What's wrong?" She heard a voice next to her say.

She continued to scream and cry as she hugged her legs to her chest.

_Was it just a dream?! Was it just a dream?_

"Nichole?" She felt a hand on her shoulder. She was too emotional to answer. Her heart was thudding painfully in her chest. The hand began to rub her shoulder soothingly.

After a few minutes, Nichole was able to calm herself down to the point where she stopped hyperventilating. She now quietly cried into her knees. Her shoulders were shaking.

"Nichole?" The voice asked again.

She continued to silently cry as she lifted her head from her knees. After a moment, she turned her head to the left to face the person lying in bed with her.

Her cries held still in her throat.

_It can't be…_

She gasped and sat up.

"Oh my God…" She placed a hand over her quivering lips. Her eyes filled with more tears. They pooled up to the rim of her eyelashes before they spilled over and rolled down her cheeks silently. Her heart that was pounding in fear now thudded in shock and disbelief.

Lying next to her in the bed was Tom, in the flesh. Her Tom.

He was sitting up in alert looking at her with wild eyes. He sat up fully turning towards her, removing his legs from the blanket and sitting on his knees.

Nichole's lips trembled as she cried in a soft gentle matter. "Tom...is it really you?" She lowered her hand from her quivering lips. She sat up fully getting on her knees scooting closer to him on the bed. "Are you really here?" She started to reach her hand out to him, but hesitated. She was chary to touch him for she feared that he would disappear.

Slowly, she reached her hand out to him. She bit her lip in anticipation.

_Please let him be real. Please let him be real. _

Finally, she rested her hand on his right cheek tenderly.

_He's real._

Her head became light and she felt like she was going to faint.

"Tom…" she said again. Her face started to break. She raised her other hand to cup his face. Her Tom. She scrutinized every part of her beloved friend's face. His dark hair and pale grey eyes.

Her breathing began to waver.

***

The Joker sat there in shock; he could not react at all. Nichole had awakened him in the night screaming and he knew she must have had a bad dream. But at the moment she was out of it, and she thought he...the Joker was Tom. She looked at him. The gentle look in her eyes swallowed up everything inside of him.

Her hands stayed on his face, her thumb resting on part of his scar, but apparently she could not feel or see it. In her eyes he must have looked like Tom. He wondered silently if this had something to do with her illness she received in Arkham. Though how could hypothermia and mental trauma cause her to hallucinate and think the Joker was Tom?

She must have lost some of her sanity in Arkham.

She must have.

"Oh Tom!"

Nichole then suddenly wrapped her arms around "Tom." She burst out in a paroxysm of hysteric sobs. She wrapped her arms around him tightly as she continued to sob on his shoulder. "Please tell me you are real! Please tell me this is not a dream!" She sobbed. She quickly leaned back and started to run her fingers through his shaggy hair. "Please don't disappear. Please don't disappear." She muttered to herself. After stroking his hair for about the fourth time she gave a quivering smile and weakly laughed.

"You are real!" she smiled, "You haven't disappeared yet! Oh my God Tom!"

She leaned back into him and cried tears of joy and relief on his shoulder. "It was all a dream! It was all a bad dream! You have no idea what a terrible nightmare I had since I fell asleep the last time I saw you! The Joker...he's gone! He's not here! Thank God I am safe! I had this awful and long dream Tom...The dream was so real! Tom...My god! None of it really happened!"

She then wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned her forehead on his. "You were dead Tom." She sniffled. "He killed you right in front of my eyes!" She started shaking from breathing so heavily. "And…. Y-y-y-you were t-t-trying to save me… I never forgave myself in that dream, Tom, never! You were gone and I remained in hell. It was all my fault and oh how I have missed you!" Her voice cracked. She moved her head into his neck, taking in his pulse as her arms wrapped around his back again. Holding him tightly.

She smiled as she remembered a wonderful memory. "Do you remember the day we got Atticus, Tom?" she reminisced, "It was when you convinced me to visit the SPCA and get a pet because you didn't want me to be so lonely at my house anymore, Tom." She smiled at the memory and rocked him gently. She then whispered into his ear: "I'm sorry for all the troubles I caused you in the past, Tom. You are the only real friend I have… besides Atticus of course." She chuckled. "He is probably eating the trash downstairs in the kitchen again. But I'll let him because I love him and I thought he was gone as well in the dream."

She backed her chest away from him and cupped his face in her hands. The Joker stared at her utter perplexed and unable to react. He didn't even know how to react or what to feel.

Nichole also was honestly smiling at the Joker for the second time ever; first time being at Arkham when she was out of it and yet relieved to escape. This second time, being also when she was out of it and thinking he was Tom. He knew that she would _never _honestly smile at him. Never. Ever. Ever.

She kept her hands on either side of his face and leaned in kissing him lightly on the lips. She did not feel his scars on her cheeks as she leaned into his face. Nor did she even see them. In her mind she was with Tom. Her closest friend.

The Joker tensed up as she met his lips. His hands remained down by his side.

Nichole leaned back, and stared into his eyes; a sad but happy smile gracing her face. "Will you stay with me tonight? Please don't ever leave me! Just hold me tight and sleep with me tonight! Please! I don't want be alone anymore!" She cried loudly wrapping her arms around his neck, shaking. "I don't want to have to wake up in a bed I'm not familiar with and with the monster I despised so much in my dream. I know I will lose it if you leave me alone!"

The Joker couldn't speak. He was at a loss for words.

He leaned backwards momentarily and picked up his purple Joker jacket off the ground. He turned back to face Nichole and raised the coat in the air and let it flow down her back. He then let it rest on her shoulders. She realized that "Tom" was giving her his jacket and placed her arms inside the arm holes.

The Joker, still in too much shock to speak, wrapped his arms around her returning the hugs, his hands crossing by her hips.

Nichole pulled away once more smiling at him, sniffling lightly. "Thank you....I love you, Tom…so much. You know that right?" She smiled sadly. "Do you love me, Tom? Do you? I know I don't have much money and you can do so much better." She sniffled. "But at one part in my dream you told me that you loved me… Am I just wishfully thinking or is it true?" She cupped his face. "Do you love me? I hope you do… I pray you do!" Tears cascaded down her face as she said this.

Before the Joker could answer, she continued. "You don't have to answer now, Tom. But can you please stay with me tonight? I know it probably hasn't been long for you but I miss you... so much, Tom."

She smiled and kissed him again before she lightly pushed him backwards, so he would be lying on the bed. His head hit the pillow and then Nichole's head hit his chest.

She laid her head on his upper chest, wrapping both arms around him cuddling him. Cuddling "Tom". The Joker began to hear Nichole cry into his chest.

He wrapped an arm around her waist holding her to him.

"Tom. Don't leave me. Don't ever leave me. I am so sorry it took this long for me to tell you. But I love you. I honestly love you with all my heart." She mumbled into the Joker's chest.

She shut her eyes, her cries dying down as the minutes past.

The Joker lay awake though, deep in thought as he stared at the ceiling. He glanced down at Nichole, who was willing cuddling him for the first time ever, and he knew very well that he was_ not_ the reason.

He wondered if she would wake up screaming about the fact that it was not Tom, the man she loved, who she believed to be lying next to her this tragic night.

He wondered if she would forget her dream.

Funny, this was his reward for saving her.

Now, more than anything, he wished he had killed Tom long before he met Nichole.

* * *

**Kait:** CHECK AND MATE! NEXT CHAPTER! Me and Syd....have been waiting for...for forever. WE ARE SO EXCITED FOR IT! But i guess its rather mean of us to be excited cause its like...well....YOU HEARD NOTHING _(zips mouth shut)_

**Joker:** Well I for one am excited _(claps hands together and rubs them together mischiefly)_

**Syd:** Okay...Side note Sadly this is the first time Kait and I have EVER dissagreedon something.... But i am rather dissapointed in her... I reccomended the FANTASTIC Bram Stoker's Dracula for her to watch and sadly... she didnt like it _(cries)_

**Kait:** Oh boo hoo! It was weird! Too much naked women and Gary Oldman looking weird with a white wig! But he is still our Mancandy _(grins)_

**Syd:** (_was about to strangle Kait for her ignorant comment but then has an OLDMANISM)_ Oh baby... Yes he is! Kait and I are absolutly in love with him... I sent Kait a video one time of me watching The Professional on my ipod telling her how i would have hot animal sex with him! Who cares if he is going to be 51?!

**Joker:** _(rolls eyes)_ Girls today....Nichole is better than you both. At least SHE doesn't drool around me.

**Syd:** Oh you're just jelous we're not drooling all over you _(Then looks at Kait and blinks)_

**Kait:** _(wipes the drool by her mouth)_ I can't help it. Your atire demands sexy thoughts.

**Syd:** _(sigh and pats Kait's back)_ Whatever _(secretly shudders)_

**Kait:** Anyways. Please review. We wanna know how we are doing. And next chapter. You all will love.

****Two new pieces of Fanart in profile.**


	40. Memories Of A Broken Heart

**Kait:** _(giggles)_So we heard you guys liked the whole Gordon and Nichole makeout scene in her dream. Well that was Sydney's idea. Thank her for that _(pats Sydney)._ And also we are so glad you guys were able to keep up and understand what happened last chapter. We know that her dream like state may have been a bit confusing at some points.

**Sydney:** I couldn't resist. _(smirks)_

**Kait:** We should let you know....this wasn't the original length of the chapter. It was much longer and went on like thousands and thousands of words, but we have to reedit the ending so we are just leaving you this small little tid bit to read. To build you up for next chapter. The epic one. LIKE THE EPIC ONE. Just wait. It will come.

* * *

It was like being born again. Nichole a woke in a daze at first but came to her senses rather quickly. With her eyes open she could see she was alone on the Joker's bed. The warm covers were drawn over her still figure. She did not move her body, just her eyes to scan the room she should not be so familiar with....but was. She noticed a tray of food on the side table next to her. The tray contained a few peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and three cans of tuna fish. Thankfully, they were in the cans where a can opener was not required. On the side of the cans stood a large glass of water, and a fork was provided for her.

It was funny.

Nichole couldn't grasp fully what had happened to her in those three days the Joker took care of her. She didn't even know herself it had been three days. Maybe a day or two in her mind, but not three.

Images of Arkham clouded her head.

How could she forget?

She remembered the Joker coming to her cell and getting her out.

She remembered being in his car and then a small span of time she didn't remember what happened and then....she was in his room and he was..... trying to warm her? Or was he trying to make a move on her?

She didn't remember.

All she knew that for the first time, she was thankful to be here rather than the dreaded hell of Arkham…

Or on the streets where she was constantly calumniated for being a murderer.

Then time went by...in a haze. She vaguely remembered food touching her lips every so often and her waking up from nightmares to see the Joker next to her in bed, undisturbed by her tossing and turning.

Her mind was much too weak to react normally than it was now.

She also remembered hands on her body.

Had he helped her? Or...had he just left her in the bed to die?

Nichole simply did not fully remember what happened the past three days.

And she most _certainly_ did not remember what happened last night, when she awoke from a dream and had a hallucination that the Joker was Tom and kissed him and cuddled him crying into his chest.

No. She did not remember that. She thought that part was just another dream she had and nothing real. Only bits and pieces of it she could remember.

It had been such a wonderful "dream."

The only man who made the dream so wonderful; Tom.

There she laid, basking in the memory of the surreal dream; Tom, lying next to her in the bed; the _monster's_ bed. He had saved her by waking her up from a terrible dream.

Tears filled her eyes as she stared absently at the empty space on her left.

How could have it been a dream? It felt so real.

_Tom_ felt so real.

Nichole continued to stare at the spot where Tom was once there, in her mind, hours and hours ago. She wished she could fall back into the dream again; back in her dear Tom's arms.

She shook herself out of the daze. Her mind was far too weak to dwell on heart wrenching memories and useless wishes followed by useless thinking.

Her head had a fading pain of a headache in it, and she was pretty hungry.

She sat up and reached over for a sandwich, shoving it into her mouth bit by bit, not wanting to rush.

After eating the sandwiches, she then wolfed down the cans of tuna with the fork that was provided for her. She almost forgot how hungry she was and spent no time eating it all up. She did not know where the Joker was at the moment, and knew if he returned there would be a good chance he'd take her food away upon seeing her all better. Her stomach churned in happiness, since now it was fed. She downed the glass of water, her dry throat enjoying the cold sensation running slowly down it.

She looked down at herself, as the blankets slowly slid off of her chest and noticed that she was only in her bra and undergarments.

But that wasn't the odd part.

The odd part was that the Joker's dirty purple jacket was on her. She touched the purple material that covered her body and raised an eyebrow.

_How did that get on me? _She thought.

_How indeed Nichole. How indeed. _Candy chimed, clearly amused.

_Candy....What is going on?_ Nichole asked, her inner thoughts slightly panicking. She felt her heart begin to pound as the feeling of uneasiness settled in.

She couldn't remember.

_Oh...I don't want to spoil it for you, sweetheart. Let the pieces fall where they may. You will find out soon enough._ Candy had a slight irritation in her voice.

_No. You're telling me! _Nichole shouted back. _What is going on?! What time is it? Where is the Joker?_

Nichole glanced at the widow (whose curtain's were open enough to see out of) where the sun was peeking out behind a few large buildings far off in the distance.

_It's so early.._..Nichole briefly thought to herself.

_You call yourself a history teacher Nichole? Anyone who's anyone can tell __**THAT **__the __sun is not rising, but in fact setting. You have been asleep __**all day long**__. Honestly you don't even know west from east? Tut Tut._ Candy laughed.

Nichole scowled aloud and decided to get off of the bed. As she got up she realized how heavy the jacket was. It went all the way down to her ankles. It definitely was not her size at all. She was basically swimming in the arm holes. She had a sudden thought, and ran her fingers into the dirty pockets of the jacket.

No luck.

He would not be stupid enough to give her his jacket with knives lining every pocket. He had emptied it before giving it to her.

_But why did he give it to me?_ She wondered as she went into the bathroom to relieve herself, since another thing she had realized upon sitting up was how badly she had to go. She didn't bother taking the jacket off though. Not because she loved it, but because she'd rather have it on and be covered up as much as she could, then be walking around in her Victoria Secret lingerie.

She'd be walking eye candy to the Joker....wherever he was at the moment.

She quickly washed her hands and realized she had a disgusting taste in her mouth.

_Ugh! I haven't brushed my teeth in days!_

She opened the little closet by the mirror and was surprised to find an unused toothbrush and toothpaste on the shelf.

She wasted no time in furiously scrubbing her teeth with the toothbrush and practically over loading on the toothpaste. She brushed the taste out of her mouth while she bathed her teeth. After brushingthem for about three minutes, she spat and rinsed her mouth.

Once she was done she turned on the sink and began to wash her hands, not bothering to look at herself in the mirror. She didn't want to look into the eyes of someone she didn't know. She didn't mean Candy. She meant herself. She didn't know who she was anymore.

But she did know. She was not the Nichole Stevens she was from a year ago. Back in the innoncent days.

Her thoughts drifted back to Tom and that wonderful dream she had of him. While her mind drifted off into space, she managed to think and focus on the memory of her and him while they were in their senior year of college. They were heading off to watch the fireworks on a late spring evening...

_Tom smiled taking Nichole's hand and slightly jogging towards the woods, guiding Nichole through the dense forest._

_Nichole laughed almost tripping. "Tom! No! Stop! You big goof! Where are we going? The firework parking is __**that**__ way! I can't run! I am in flip flops!" She tried to let go of his hand but he protested._

_She was in a light spring skirt and a tank top with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Her hair was in a high ponytail, with her bangs remaining down and side swept; partially tucked behind her ears. Tom was sporting his t-shirt and jeans. _

"_Nichole…" he whined, "Trust me. I went here last year to watch the fireworks. Come on! It's just a short walk!" He laughed tugging her hand. His dark shaggy hair danced around his smiling face with the wind._

"_A short walk __**my ass**__! Besides I don't want end up being in a field where a frat party is and drunken people are hanging all over me." She scrunched her nose. "Can we please go back?" She begged._

"_I'm not taking "No" for an answer." He simply stated before he stopped and lunged at her._

"_What are you- WHOA! No Tom!" She let out a small scream and laughed as he scooped her up in his strong arms. He started carrying her deeper into the woods. She playfully beat at his chest. "Toooooooommm!" she whined playfully. Even in the dark she could still see his eyes twinkle._

_A few minutes of this and they were at a cliff side, overlooking a beautiful lake. Tom set Nichole down on a soft patch of green grass and sat next to her._

"_Oh my gosh...This is beautiful!" She flailed her arms in the air. She could see from across the lake a bunch of people around camp fires staring up at the sky, awaiting the fireworks._

"_It gets better." Tom laughed._

_Suddenly the fireworks started. The sky was alight with shades of red, blue and green and popping noises echoed all around her. The most amazing thing was the lake reflected the fireworks, giving Tom and Nichole an extra extravaganza to look at. She smiled at Tom, playfully pushing him._

"_If you just told me this is what was up here, maybe I wouldn't have been such a complainer. You must hate me." She smirked, nudging him._

_Tom sighed pretending to agree with her "Well....You do tend to-" He then started laughing as she burst out laughing. "TOM!"_

_She pushed him once more and this time he grabbed her arm pulling her down on top of him. The two were in a laughing fit as the fireworks never stopped exploding behind them._

"_No no..Nichole you don't get annoying. I think it's cute the way you hate little walks around in nature." He teased, mussing her hair._

_She repositioned herself so she was laying on the ground, with her head on Tom's chest looking up at the fireworks. She could hear his heart beating in his chest and it caused her to blush with a slight smile curving around her lips. She was thankful he could not see her face._

_Nichole and Tom's college friends always said that the two of them had a "thing" and that they were made for each other. They had chemistry. But neither of them acted like nothing more than friends. But on the inside Nichole wished they could be more. The moment they became friends she knew he was the one for her. Everything about him made the butterflies in her stomach appear. His looks, his smile, his fun personality…Yes, a little cocky… but overall a very caring individual._

_She wished she knew if he felt the same way. But she would never dare to ask. It could ruin there friendship if he did not feel the same way. But just because they weren't dating, didn't mean they didn't cuddle and hug often. They did in fact....and that only added to Nichole's friends urging her and ranting to her about how her and Tom were meant to be._

_Life for her was good. College life that was. Being at a college outside of Gotham City was the best choice for her, but she knew once the year ended, she would have to move back to Gotham and find a job there, since she was already chosen to teach in Gotham next year. She knew she'd be away from Tom. It saddened her._

"_Hey Nichole." Tom said, pulling her from her thoughts. He leaned up on his elbows, biting his lip as he looked at the ground. "So I...Uh...Didn't happen to mention to you about my going away party coming up soon?"_

_Nichole sighed, that only made her sadness about the fact he was going away worse. "Yeah… it's next Saturday right?"_

"_Indeed it is Nichole, and there has been a change of plans." Tom stated._

_Nichole sat up more, leaning one hand on his chest and the other on the ground. "What...Billy can't bring beer to it and we have to reschedule?" She joked as she playfully nudged his cheek, enjoying the little scruff on her fingers._

"_No no no. But lord if that happened we would have to!" His face mocked horror for a second. "No...really… the change is the theme of the party. It's not a going away party anymore… but a congratulations party."_

_She raised an eyebrow. "I don't get it."_

"_I landed a better job in Gotham City Nichole. I get to move into the same city as you." A wide white toothed grin appeared on his face as he sat up._

_Her breath caught. Before she could stop herself she wrapped her arms around his neck hugging him tightly causing him to fall back once again laying down. She laughed in disbelief. "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Really? Oh my gosh I am so happy!" She said excitedly. "You get to stay!" She leaned her head on his chest and took in his scent. His scent that was redolent to her dear friend. She stifled a gasp when she heard his heart beat was pumping faster with excitement._

_Did he feel the butterflies too?_

_He wrapped his arms around her, laughing. "Yes Nichole! I knew you'd be happy."_

"_You aren't gonna leave me after all Tom! I knew you couldn't go without me for that long." She teased pulling back from the hug and looking into his eyes as her body leaned over him._

"_Oh you're quiet right Nichole. I need my daily dose of Nichole or I just go through withdrawal." He smiled tapping one finger on her nose. "I am not leaving you any time soon Nichole. Not now. Not ever."_

Nichole was pulled from her lovely memory by a voice.

A voice she preferred to not hear.

Not now. Not ever again.

The smile on her face quickly vanished.

"Well finally my little Nichole is all better." The Joker said, coming into the bathroom in his full Joker attire (minus the purple jacket) and makeup up was fixed on his face.

She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts she had kept the sink going underneath her hands and had been washing them for the past few minutes. The sink was near the point of overflowing. She gasped quickly shutting it off. She suddenly felt more embarrassed to be in his jacket. But she knew if it was on her...**he** put it on her. Or had Candy taken it in the night? No she couldn't have...Nichole would have been awake and remembered Candy taking over.

The Joker dragged his tongue across his red lips as he came closer to her. She backed away from the sink and tried to side step past him. He raised an eyebrow at her, still not touching her.

"Last night was quite a shocker, eh? Tell me Nichole you still remember who **I** am, right?" The Joker smiled without meaning for a fraction of a second, before returning his face to an imperturbable expression.

"What are you talking about?" She asked him, utterly confused. She furrowed a brow.

"You thought that last night I was-" The Joker stopped himself. It clicked in his mind that she did not remember. She didn't remember that last night she awoke and thought he was Tom. Also by the way she was acting she did not remember receiving his jacket either, as she kept looking down at it and back to him searching to see if he was pissed that she was wearing it.

He suddenly found this all to be amusing.

A devious grin appeared on his face.

"Nichole… Do you remember what happened to you the past.._uh._... three _days-sah?_" He asked calmly.

She bit her lip, desperately trying to remember. The shock of the term "three days" being used hit her.

"Three days?!" She asked, her mouth went agape.

The Joker laughed in his throat, trying to conceal how amused he _really _was.

"Nichole… Tell me the last thing you remember." He commanded.

"I Uh... was at Arkham...and you came...and...Then...I don't remember...and then uh...I was in your bed....and...Then food and...I had dreams and....I... was laying down a lot...." She stammered, thinking she sounded rather ridiculous.

He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth, scrunching his nose for a moment. "Nichole. What happened was you had hypothermia." He nodded at her horrified expression. "Yeah yeah. You had that. And you're cloths were wet when I got you. You were out of it for three days. The first day when I brought you back...you uh kept screaming thinking someone was pouring water on you. Your eyes rolled in the back of your head and you thrashed about.....like a fish outta water." He paused swallowing the lump in his throat. "You were crazy."

As he spoke, a few images popped into Nichole's head. Images her limbs flailing on the Joker's bed… And yet while she was on the bed… water was being doused on her.

Or was it?

She was screaming in pain and him standing above her looking down at her. In a few moments he leaned down removing her wet clothing and replaced it with her old clothing. Then he climbed into bed and…

She blanked.

_He gave me heat....._

Piece by piece, it came in her head. But she questioned if what she was thinking at the moment really happened, or she was just making up a scenario in her head from the Joker's words.

She blinked staring at him as he stopped speaking. "Was...Was I really?" She asked softly. Not wanting to believe it.

He looked up at the ceiling then back down at her as he nodded. "You went berserk." He stated, and then went over to the sink himself. Nichole backed away from the sink leaning on the wall next to the shower. She watched his every move, not wanting him anywhere near her.

"What...caused such a crazy state of mind Nichole?" He tilted his head, truthfully wanting to know what happened to her.

She shuffled uncomfortably against the wall, her face growing saddened by the memories of Arkham. "They....were all against me. The doctors, the other prisoners. All of them wanted me dead. They starved me, and beat me. A-And...in the shower....They held me under the cold while attacking me." She shut her eyes tightly clenching her jaw, trying to shake the images of Arkham from her mind. "They didn't even treat my injuries. Only at the very beginning of my stay did I get a medical exam and they told me everything that was wrong with me and that I have injury that-"

She stopped mid sentence. She suddenly remembered they told her she could never get pregnant.

The Joker blinked. "Oh...So what's the verdict Nichole....What **is** wrong with you. Nothing serious I hope." He faked concern.

She leaned forward on the wall, clenching his fists tightly; her skin turning white on her knuckles. "They told me I can't get pregnant ever." She spat the utter most hate into her words.

Not that she wanted to get pregnant with _him_, but she always day dreamed before this experienceabout having a couple of kids one day and settling down with a husband and a nice house outside of Gotham. Now whenever she day dreamed of this, the blank space that she would dream up her "ideal husband" would be replaced with Tom. He was her ideal husband.

The Joker's facial expression showed, he did not care or what she said did not phase him even in the slightest bit. "I did notice a _part-tic-cu-lar_ bruise on your lower stomach a while back that did look menacing." He teased.

She glared at him, purely disgusted by him. How he could take the fact he infertilized her very being, so easily and not care at all.

"Tut tut is Nichole upset she will never have a bun in the oven?" He simply held back a chuckle and turned the sink back on, grabbing a face cloth and washed off his makeup.

After her anger started to fade, she realized absently that Candy was speaking to her. It wasn't until Candy said the word "trouble" that Nichole started to focus on what Candy was saying.

_-ouble and then what Nichole? THEN WHAT?! Ugh! Are you even listening to me?! _Candy growled.

_No...Now please stop talking, _Nichole firmly told Candy.

Candy was very irritated at this point. She growled like a school girl in Nichole's head. Suddenly she stopped and then burst out in giggles_ Hey Nichole......You look...kind of… messy. Very dirty indeed. You look like you need to clean yourself off._

The words were clear and Nichole heard them. But at first she did not understand what Candy meant. She even raised an eyebrow physically, thanking the fact the Joker was too focused on brushing his teeth with only water to notice.

Only then, did Candy's words make sense, when Nichole saw the shower in the corner of her eye next to her.

A memory shot back into her mind. The Joker....that time before Candy took over on the couch.

Nichole cringed at that memory before she continued.

She asked him if she could take a shower, since she still had the blood of her students on her. He suggested they take one together. She gave him a good excuse for why he would not want to take one with her at that time. It had been a lucky escape. She did not want to ever take one with him. But then he said....that she was going to _have_ to. Soon.

Candy's words made sense.

Her being in the bathroom and by the shower....might spark a thought in the Joker's mind. It may trigger him to remember.

She had to get out of there and get out of there NOW.

Nichole could sense though, that every so often he would look at her in the corner of his eye as he brushed his teeth. Besides, that he just stared at himself in the mirror; every so often taking the tooth brush out to run his tongue over his yellow teeth.

Nichole leaned forward away from the wall and decided in order to leave the room she needed to make it seem natural.

Stealthily…but natural.

She shouldn't run out screaming or hell, even walk in a fast manner out of the bathroom. Drawing attention to her would be bad at a time like this.

She stood up straight on her own and walked behind the Joker towards the doorway. The door was half open, so she wouldn't have to even touch it to escape the small bathroom. As she got closer and closer to the threshold, her nerves picked up. Any second she expected him to grab her from behind or ask her what she was doing. But still she walked forward.

His room came into complete eye sight. She could feel her nerves leaving. Two more steps to freedom. She was so close she could taste it. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

_Come on, Nichole, COME ON! You can do this. Just be coo-_

The door slammed shut in her face so suddenly and so quickly it caused her to jump and gasp in her spot.

She could see the door slam in front of her face, and she could see out of the corner of her eyes two hands above her holding the door shut. She felt the Joker breathing by her left ear as he towered over her.

He knew all along what she striving to do.

"And just where...do you think...**you're** going?" He asked, sending a breath of air into her ear. She could feel her back brush lightly against hers every so often. His hands remained on the door still pushing on it, so his body was not fully leaning into hers. "You don't think I, of all people, forgot about our little deal… now do you?" He laughed, this time aloud.

* * *

**Kait:** COULD IT BE?! A CLIFFHANGER? Are we bringing back the cliffhangers?! Oh fuck! Everyone hit the bunkers!

**Joker:** _(dives into bomb shelter)_ DAMN IT!

**Sydney:** Haha stay tuned. The next EPIC part of the chapter will arrive around Tuesday guys. Hang in there.


	41. Monster

**Kait:** Sorry to have left ya hanging guys....but i don't think i need to say anymore. Enjoy this chapter cause me and Sydney worked SO hard on it. That's why it took so long AND why we had to split it up and give you that small tid bit last chapter.

**Sydney:** But its worth it _(grins evilly)_

**Kait: **Enjoy my loves!

* * *

"And just where...do you think...**you're** going?" He asked, sending a breath of air into her ear. She could feel her back brush lightly against hers every so often. His hands remained on the door still pushing on it, so his body was not fully leaning into hers. "You don't think I, of all people, forgot about our little deal… now do you?"

Nichole panicked in her spot, still feeling his breath by her ear. She would not be able to talk her way out of this one. She had to try, but the words stayed lodged in her throat refusing to come out.

Sweat lined the back of her neck as she quickly reached forward on the door handle and pulled on it, in some vain attempt to open the door and exit the room. She was in such a panic....her mind wasn't working correctly, for she knew already that she could never overpower the Joker.

Her hand pulled on the brass handle until it felt as if her whole hand was about to break. Small frantic crys came from her whimpering throat.

Her breathing picked up and her stomach felt like it was collapsing.

She then ducked out from under the Joker's arm and ran away from him in the small bathroom. Though she had nowhere to go, her panicking mind told her instinctively to run. To do anything to get away from him.

The Joker was fast though. _Very_ fast. He turned around as soon as she fled and wrapped his arms around her from behind, pulling her back into his chest. She screamed "No!" as she struggled forward.

He squeezed her tightly, crushing her rip cage. She thrashed her arms and tried to lean her upper body forward. She clawed at his arms around her and screamed.

The way she looked, was like a toddler trying to escape the grip of a parent's hug. Every time she leaned her body forward, his upper body went with her. He did not let go and only squeezed tighter with her struggles.

The next thing he said was unexpected and a sudden tear to the gut.

"LOOK! I am not your Tom and I never will be! He will never come out of the ground he is under! He will never see your scared face, never hold you and kiss you and he will never save you. You want to know why Nichole? **Because I killed him**! He is as dead as your precious students! **The only living thing he will ever see is the worms and tiny creatures that continue eating his decomposing body as we speak.**"

He laughed manically, "You're stuck with me, Nichole, whether you like it or not!"

She froze in his arms. Her blood became stone cold. His words stabbed her heart one word after the other.

"HOW DARE YOU! FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING MONSTER!" She began to scream out thrashing her whole body in his arms. "WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU SAY THAT?! STOP KICKING ME WHEN I AM ALREADY FUCKING DOWN! YOU FUCKING HEARTLESS MONSTER!" Tears of anger shot out of her eyes. She was going to get out of his grip, even if she broke a few rips in the process.

The Joker then, in a quick motion, took her by the neck, turned her around and slammed her into the door. His face showed he was "acting" like he was calm, but his eyes held it all. Anger.

She started to question in her mind, why he would say that about Tom so randomly.

How odd it was that she had her first ever nice and pleasant dream about Tom last night, and then the next day the Joker brought him up; something he didn't do unless she spoke of Tom first, which she had not. She hoped she hadn't talked in her sleep or _something._....

"Now now.....There is no need for words like that especially after I saved you." His grip on her neck tightened as she tried to kick her legs at him. He leaned his chest into her pinning her to the wooden door. The door had a slight embossed wooden slab to it around the center of the door, and the edge of it was digging into her already cut up back.

With every word he spoke today, she became confused. _Had he saved me? No, he couldn't have. He had left me on the bed for days waiting for me to die… right?_

_Then why did he give me heat?_

"What the FUCK are you talking about?! You're the reason I was sent there in the first place!" She spat at him, her anger not ceasing.

"Because you were being disobedient!" he instantly answered. "You should know by now what sets me off, and yet you still don't listen to me."

"That still gives you no justification to put me through the things you put me through! I went to hell and was taken from it only to be sent back down there again!" The inside of her throat felt very raw, as if she was crying but the anger held back the cries.

He licked his lips loosening his grip slightly, as she stopped kicking._"Look-kah,_ I can't change the things I did in the past… And even if I could I'm not sure I would want to. It was all so much fun! But what's done is done, and who's dead is dead. Deal with it."

Nichole could not believe this.

"DEAL WITH IT?! HOW DARE YOU-" But she was cut off when he tightened his grip once more, causing her to choke on her breath, the saliva in her mouth began to run down her chin as writhed her head back and forth to escape his grip in panic. Her throat was starting to close, beginning to block her windpipe.

His hand loosened a little as she let out a series of coughs.

"Yanno… maybe I should just leave my hand here on your neck all the time and just give it a little squeeze-" He squeezed her neck tighter as he said this, giving more dark emphasis. This caused her to thrash her head backwards as her eyes turned into slits "-whenever you talk outta line. Yanno....like one of those electric shock collars dogs have. Maybe that will teach you." He started laughing, sendinga piercing stare into her eyes. His grip loosened again.

After a while she was able to think a bit more clearly.

Though he had no makeup on, his eyes were the scariest thing about him.

Candy used this pause in the Joker's action and speaking to yell at Nichole. _Nichole...just stop thrashing! Stop it! YOU OWE HIM! Do you not realize this!? He __**saved**__ you. He didn't have to but he did. And now you are being the ungrateful bitch you normally are! Just buck it up and take the fucking shower with him!_

Nichole spat back at Candy. _No fuck you! Fuck both of you! I am not going to! He did not save me! He just left me in that bed for days, hoping I'd die. It's news flash to him that I am alive! So he failed and now is just trying to wear me down to my last breath!_

Candy laughed. _That's not true Nichole! Have you honestly no idea what he did for you? _

Nichole must have been making a strange face while she spoke to Candy mentally, because the Joker's facial expression went from amused yet irritated, to confused and still irritated.

She still strangled, her energy in her arms starting to fade, but one hand of hers remained on the hand of his on her neck, trying to get him off of her.

As if on cue, the Joker spoke. "Yanno… it's not normal for me to help a person. It's not normal for me to try to save them of some illness and warm their freezing cold dying body... To feed their starving form and nurse them back to health. To resist all urges to uh.... take advantage of them." He let out a wicked grin before he continued. "It is very rare thing for me to do at all, Nichole. I hope you realize I could easily throw you back onto the streets and back to Arkham so you can make _that_ your new home since you are being so ungrateful about my _generosity-ah._" He sucked on the inside of his scared cheek.

_SEE?! You are ungrateful Nichole. I am not the only one to notice._ Candy was laughing hysterically at this point.

_Shut up! Just please...shut up. _Nichole pleaded to Candy. She was crying.

She felt the tears start to form on the brim of her eyelids.

_There is no way to get out of this Nichole. Sometimes you gotta do stuff you don't wanna do in life. That is what life is all about! And who knows maybe you would enjoy it! You are a mess, and can't avoid a shower for the rest of your natural born life! I will force it on you if you say no, and we both know what happens when I am in charge._ Candy's voice held a dangerous promise. _Or would you rather be back at Arkham taking __**those**__ showers again?_

The Joker then sighed, rolling his eyes. "I won't make you go all the way in the shower... just let me do what I _want_."

_Just take the deal Nichole. Take it. _Candy ordered.

"If you refuse....it will happen tomorrow no matter what and I won't promise you nothing about anything. I'll go in there full throttle." The glare did not leave his eyes, as he reached down and slipped his hand between the folds of the jacket, groping at her bra. She brought one hand down and quickly shooed his hand away.

The tears started to fall as Nichole realized this was the best offer she was going to get. She slowly forced herself to nod as she shut her eyes, holding back the intense urge to cry like a dying animal.

The Joker leaned in raising an eyebrow. "Is that you nodding Nichole....or Candy. Give me sign here darlin'." He tightened his grip on her neck once more as she did not answer quickly enough for his taste.

The look in her eyes was her answer. The pure sadness and hopelessness in them showed and stood out to the Joker. If Candy had taken over, her eyes would be filled with lust and desire. Even Candy could not hide those emotions in her eyes. Just like Nichole could not hide the sadness in her eyes.

The Joker suddenly laughed out loud happily and let go of her neck, causing her to sink to the ground holding onto her neck to release the tension in it; gasping for breath the entire time. Normally when he released her neck after near strangulation, Nichole's nerves would cease and a sigh of relief would sweep over her, but not this time. Her nerves just increased as he walked over to the shower on the opposite side of the room and turned it on, adjusting the temperature a few times before getting it just right.

Nichole slid her body back to a stand, pressing her weight into the door behind her. She shut her eyes taking in a deep breath of air. She had to brace herself for this....experience. It would take every fiber in her very being to not sprint out of that shower and try to escape to his room.

She knew doing that would just make things worse for her.... and better for him? He always enjoyed her fighting.

The Joker turned back around and walked the few feet towards Nichole. He stood a bit by the sink, where he stopped and used one finger to beckon her over to him.

Gulping, her feet moved forward slowly, almost falling over from how bad she was shaking in nervousness. She stopped as she stood right in front of him. She still stayed a good few inches from his grinning evilly figure.

He truly was **heartless**.

He was enjoying himself already. And the "fun" hadn't even begun.

He reached forward placing one hand on her shoulder, causing her to flinch, and he turned her around so her back faced him. Facing away from him, gave her slight comfort, but still the silent tears fell.

At least she didn't have to see his grinning face.

She felt him take a fist of the shoulder of the loose purple jacket on her and start to slowly tug on it, making it slide off her body. The purple material inched over the small cuts that lined her arms, and snagged on a few of them. She bit her lips sucking on it, to hold back the urge to scream to relieve her nerves and anger.

She felt his hand return to one of her shoulders as he turned her around so she faced him once more. She was going to meet his eyes with hers, but she couldn't anymore. It only made the pit of her stomach surge into a tight knot. She stared at the spot underneath his chin; in the corner of her eye she was clearly able to see the smug look on his face. She involuntarily played with her hands nervously. Being without his jacket, did not protect her from his wandering eyes.

_Just get this over with… get this over with._

He brought himself closer to her and leaned his head into a space on her shoulder. His hands snaked around her back towards her bra clasp, trying to unhook it.

Nichole snapped at this point, her panicking state of mind taking over. She squirmed and tried to reach for the hands holding the material on her backside. She let out whines in her throat, almost dog like and her face twisted down into a helpless frown. Her hands could not reach his, and his grip on her was far too strong. She felt the pressure on her bra on her body cease, and it started to fall forward over her breasts.

He had undone it.

She tried to back away from him, but one of his hands remained on her backside keeping her where she was, and his other took the front of the black bra and pulled it forward fully off of her arms roughly.

She brought her hands up to hide her bare chest and then started to lean her body backwards and sideways to fight him off. The entire time she kept her eyes closed.

"Hey...Hey.... hey! Hey! Nichole! Stop this." The Joker teased, trying to reach for her undergarments. He suddenly froze with her in his grip, and then smiled. Nichole did the mistake of meeting his eyes. He looked down at her and suddenly let go of her backing away.

"No...no no wait. Instead of me fight you like I always do.....I want to see you fight yourself. Take them off...." He folded his arms and leaned on the sink counter grinning maliciously at her.

He was enjoying her pain, humiliation, and personal ignominy.

Her mouth was slightly open and short breaths came out in the form of quite crying. She didn't know what she would rather have: Him taking them off, or herself. She still had her arms crossed over her chest.

_Arms....move down. Just do it and get it over with._ Nichole told herself as she realized she had been standing staring at the Joker doing absolutely nothing for well over a minute now. He grew angrier as the seconds passed.

She turned around finally so her back faced him, and brought her hands down from her breasts to each side of the material on her hip.

"Oh no no no. Facing me Nichole or I will cut them off....and I just might accidentally cut a bit too deeply...If you understand what I am say_ing-ah_." His voice dropped to a dangerous tone.

Oh how she did understand what he was saying. She muttered a curse under her breath and turned back around to face him. It took her a moment before she dropped the cloth to the floor as it fell down her legs, keeping her eyes closed the entire time. She sunk her teeth into her bottom lip as she stood with her arms pressed tightly to her sides.

Standing there bare and all to him. It was really going to happen. In a matter of minutes.

The Joker eyed her up and down for a few seconds, seeing her body covered with dry crusty blood and sores. The fact she actually_ needed _a shower made it even more amusing to him. He couldn't hold in his excitement anymore.

"Get in..." He stated in a serious voice.

She slowly walked past him using her hands to cover between her legs and chest. She stepped into the shower, sneaking past the outer shower curtain which was fully closed, except for a small space towards the end where the shower head was not. Once she was in, a sigh a relief came over her for two reasons.

One being that she was away from the Joker for this short period of time, and he could not see her due to the shower curtain.

The other reason being the warm water running down her body from the shower head. It had been too long since she felt the warmness and pleasure of a shower's heat.

The caked on dry blood came off here and there, but the extreme scabs remained. Her hair slowly became drenched in the liquid and stuck to her backside. She shut her eyes running her fingers through her snarled hair a few times enjoying the warm feeling on her. This had to be the first time she felt pleasure in a long time.

Still, in the back of her mind, she feared that the shower head would suddenly pour down ice water on her.

But this pleasure of warmth only lasted for another second or so. It ended when she heard the sound of clothing hitting the floor. Her mind jolted her as she realized the Joker was going to join in a matter of seconds. Her hands left her hair as she panicked once again. Her eyes darted around looking for something she could hit him with or some way of escape.

Out of desperation, she took the inner shower curtain, standing close to it, and wrapped herself in it. The off white curtain wrapped around her. She knew the idea of this was stupid and futile but her mind was urging her to do it. She kept her eyes closed.

She heard the Joker enter the shower. He looked at her in the shower curtain and raised an eyebrow.

"…Um.....No…" He stated.

She felt his hands working on the shower curtain to reveal her inside her cocoon of plastic. She shook where she stood trying with all her might to remain holding onto the plastic, but she felt it being ripped away from her fingernails, breaking and causing one to bleed in the process. She grunted and then the curtain was no longer around her. She was exposed. He flattened it out back to normal behind her and then stared at her, his eyebrow still raised.

She faced the wall opposite of her while he was on her right side.

"It's not anything I haven't seen before. There are just new cuts and bruises I didn't intend for on it." He smacked his lips together loudly, making a clicking noise. The way he was speaking to her, made her sound to be more of an object than a person.

He took one hand and pulled her and turned her so she had to step forward and stand facing him. Her back was getting hit with the stream of water. She again, did not make eye contact with him when she finally opened her eyes. She stared at his bare chest, not wanting to look at his eyes or look down at his bare lower self. She really wanted to just shut her eyes, but if she did that she would not be able to stop anything he was going to do.

She realized at this point how small the shower area was. The length of it was enough for Nichole to lay down in and the width was barely able to hold the Joker and Nichole standing side by side. He had to be so close to her. She felt like the walls were closing in on her. The water could bounce off of him and on to her body. He

He reached an arm back grabbing something. Nichole's open mouth breathing heavily had water streaming into it, so she shut it quickly not wanting to choke. She felt at this moment, so helpless.

Naked.

Bare.

Vulnerable.

Exposed.

Her body shook, in nerves. This was not helping her at all. This caused her breasts to bounce slightly up and down on her shaking chest, creating eye candy and more temptation for the Joker.

He moved a hand around her back pushing her more forward while he stepped backwards so the front of her body was not under the water, leaving only her backside under the stream.

She felt something against her stomach, and looked down to see the Joker with a bar of soap in his hands pressing it to her bare stomach. By looking down she happened to glance at his manhood and it caused her eye to twitch.

She then looked up and closed her eyes.

The bile in her stomach demanded to come out, but she swallowed and tried to focus on something positive. Something good. She tried to focus on that dream she had of Tom last night.

_Think Nichole think. Think about that dream. Think about how soft Tom felt in that dream. How happy you were. _She thought silently to herself.

The Joker ran the bar of soap all over her stomach and then slowly up the space between her breasts and up her throat, letting his eyes wander around the trail of bubbly soap it left behind. His mouth hung slightly open in amusement the entire time. His body still not evenly wet, just wet here and there from the water bouncing off Nichole and on to him. But his body was caked lightly with water, from the steam in the air.

_Think of Tom's dark silky hair and how it felt between your fingers in that dream. How happy I was in that dream. Think of that. Not of the Joker. Not of him washing you right now. He's not really here right now. Nichole. You're really.....in the forest....with Tom...watching fireworks. Yeah! Just think of that. _Nichole bit the inside of her cheek, tightly holding onto the side of her thigh with her hand in some vain thought of releasing her nerves into her clenching fist.

The shower could not hide the tears pouring from her eyes.

The Joker slipped his hand around her back, with the bar of soap and ran it slowly up and down her bare backside removing the dry stick blood. Her body flinched as his hand ran down to her rear and made it a soapy mess, lingering there for a good minute or so. He then ran the soap on her upper thigh and over her pelvis.

She was sort of thankful that the bar of soap was in between her skin and his hand, but still hated how slow and prolonged he made it as he did the act of washing her. Her teeth began to hurt as she was clenching her jaw much too tightly.

He then dropped the soap and moved his hands to touch her body now, to rub the soap in and remove the rest of the blood coating her body. She involuntarily shuttered as his hands flowed over her stomach and to her chest. He spent extra amounts of time by her chest to "rub" in the soap. He couldn't help himself, and he applied pressure on her breasts as her roughly squeezed and rubbed them.

It felt like he was trying to squeeze them right off her.

His fingers then started to tweak her nipples.

She shut her eyes whimpering in her throat. He was getting greedy and ran his hand down to her inner legs, leaving a soapy finger trail behind as he groped at her-…

"Sssss-" Was all Nichole could manage to squeak out. She wanted to tell him to stop, but her nerves choked her throat, sending her neck muscles into a tight tense position. Nichole flinched as his fingers traced her figure, outlining every curve of hers.

She wanted this to end right now. She felt his eyes traveling all over her naked body.

This was** exactly** what she feared when he first offered to take a shower with her; the prolonged time he would take in washing her.

He stood so close to her at the moment. She could feel his presence, his aura on her. The only thing touching her was his hands.

His deadly weapon was now his hands, touching every inch of her.

He started to breath heavily as he applied more pressure on her skin, not noticing the water had washed the soap clean off his hands.

"Oh G-g-g-god s-st-stop…" Nichole sobbed silently in a cry. The Joker ignored her, licking his lips at this point leaning his face closer to hers. He breathed heavily on her, by her ear, making every sound around her vanish and his noise the center of her world.

Her dark, lonely, and hopeless world.

The Joker reached over grabbing a bottle of shampoo and squirting some into his hand.

The Joker suddenly, took his free shampoo less hand and placed in on her right shoulder turning her body and shoving her backside into the shower's hard plastic wall. He side stepped so he was standing in front of her, still pushing her roughly into the wall.

Nichole opened her eyes and was even more nervous than she was before. Her body became frozen as she shut her eyes yelping like a dying animal. She thought he was going to penetrate her right then and there. She brought a hand up and tried to push him away, placing her hand on his shoulder as well. "No....Don't please. You said you wouldn't-"

The Joker interrupted her sounding very offended. "Tut. Tut. Nichole, remember I am a man of my word. Just let me do what I want....Nothing more."

He leaned his chest onto her getting much closer as he brought his hands up and ran them through her hair. She felt his length on her leg, which made her very very _very _uncomfortable. She sobbed in her throat, the blackness of her shut eyes not doing her any good. She opened her eyes and stared at his chest again. The faded, yellow grey bruises from her still remained on him.

Her legs twitched as he made her head lean away from the wall and into his chest so he could run his fingers fully through her wet hair.

With her head in his chest she decided to just shut her eyes once more. She did not want to be face to face with the monster's bare skin. The condensate water droplets on his chest were sucked into her nose as she breathed chokingly.

Nichole's throat felt raw as she tried to remember how to breathe properly.

The Joker continued to run his fingers through her hair, massaging her scalp. Nichole hated to admit it, and she probably figured that it was just because her eyes were closed and she could not see him, but the way his fingers rubbed her head with the shampoo almost felt good.

Relaxing and soothing.

As soon as she opened her eyes though her thoughts returned to disgusted and violated.

_Just get through this. He's almost done. Then you can get out and pretend to sleep. _Nichole tried to motivate herself.

Focusing on it being over. Focusing on him not touching her any longer was her motivation.

He released his fingers from her now shampoo soaking hair and leaned his body weight off of her. He took her shoulders again and forced her to stand under the stream of water. The soap and shampoo slowly slid down her body. She still felt his hand on the side of her arm as she shut her eyes to avoid the water. He was putting immense pressure into the side of her arm, digging a few finger nails into her delicate skin. Even with eyes closed, she could feel his stare all over her bare body. Once all the cleaning products were off of her, he yanked her roughly forward.

She let out a gasp, opening her eyes. She met his eyes for one second, but quickly diverted her stare to his chest. She refused to look into the two cold dark tunnels of his.

The soft roar of the shower head streaming water out of it was all that was heard in the small moment of silence. The Joker stared at her body in thought.

"Well since I so graciously helped clean you off AND since you've been staring at my chest this whole time Nichole...I think you should return the favor..." He licked his lips, taking in clumps of warm water.

It felt like Nichole's eyes went so wide they bulged out of their sockets. There was no way she was going to do this. No way would she be able to. Her hands would be shaking so badly, the soap would slip right out from under her grasp.

_Candy..._ Nichole pleaded. _Please can you take over? PLEASE! I don't want to do this. Please just do it! You'd love it! PLEASE!_

_Oh Nichole...I would but....Hey we all know what will happen if I come out. I will do more than just....wash him._ She laughed cruelly. _And besides...I am enjoying this show. I love watching you in this much emotional pain._

_You fucking bitch! _Nichole screamed. _YOU god damn fucking bitch!_

"Are we being...ungrateful Nichole?" The Joker inquired. His tone caused a chill to run down her spine, and her left leg began to twitch.

"Here...I will get you started...since you are being _sooooo _difficult." He squatted down picking up the bar of soap and rubbing it rather quickly over his chest and where ever he could reach on his back and shoulders and various parts of his body. He then threw the soap to the ground irritated and opened his arms out as if he was welcoming her to a show.

She locked eyes with him, and regretted it. His glare felt like it was penetrating her skin and eating slowly away at her already atrophying heart. The two dark tunnels she gazed into were menacing looking. One would think, without the black makeup by his eyes, they would be less scary, but that was not the case. His eyes alone could cause Nichole to feel light headed.

"Nichole." The Joker said, his anger rising.

Taking a deep breath in, she stepped forward and brought her shaking hands to his soapy chest to rub in the soap and dismiss his skin of any marks of dirt. She made sure she was careful to not apply much pressure to his tattered chest, fearing she would end up hurting him where the bruises she inflicted on him remained. She felt the bumps and bruises on his chest and a little patch of hair. His chest also had various scars and old cuts on it. The rest of his skin was smooth under her shaking hands. She tried to focus on his skin and where her hands were. She could not look at his face. Even though she wasn't, she could feel him smiling smugly.

As her hands worked their way up and down his chest causing it to have a white bubbly coating, she felt him tense more. She would think that her actions would cause him to be at ease and relaxed, since he was getting her to do what he wanted, but that was not the case. He grunted as she moved to the side of him running her hands over his shoulders to mix the soap on there.

She figured out what was going on with him. He had told her he was not going to go all the way right now. Her rubbing him like this was tempting him. He was trying to hold back. An inner conflict.

At least he knows what inner conflicts feel like right now… Even though his was _way_ different from hers.

She started to panic on the inside fearing he'd lose self control.

_He's never gone against his word before Nichole...calm down and finish this stupid task he's made you do. Calm down. Remember to breath._ She told herself.

Then, just as she was standing to the side of him, he did something… Very, very repulsive.

He reached up with his left hand and took hold of her hand that was on his left shoulder tightly. He brought her hand down past his stomach, and then even lower.

_Oh fuck!_

She immediately caught on to what he was doing and let out a frustrated yelp as she tried to pull back her hand.

"Ah ta ta" He chimed. He would not budge on his hold. They were locked in a stalemate as her hand was tightly being held only inches from his manhood.

He suddenly yanked harder overpowering her and causing her fist to be placed right next to his shaft. As he tried to pull her hand, the side of her fist would lightly touch the side of his area every so often as she immediately pulled back.

_He's not making me do this! He's not getting me to do this!_ Her mind was racing as she tried to think of words that could form into a sentence...that could form into a way to get out of it. She couldn't think of any words though. All her attention was on getting her hand out of his. She could only scream as she struggled.

He dug his fingernails savagely into the delicate skin of her fingers trying to get her to break her clenched fist. The searing pain of his fingernails made her yelp. She bit her tongue and tried to bear the pain. She could not release her fist. Once that happened he'd be in control.

She took the hand that was free of his grip, currently on his shoulder, and brought it to claw on his right bicep. She tried to push on it as she clawed to back herself away from him.

He kept grunting in frustration as she fought back. He sighed. "Nichole!" He said again with the same irritated tone of voice.

He suddenly took his free right hand (whose arm was being clawed by Nichole) and placed it on the closest breast of hers he could reach and squeezed tightly. This completely caught her off guard caused her to gasp and slightly relax her fist in his hand, now putting more pressure at clawing and shoving his arm. The more pressure she put on his arm, the harder his hand clamped down and squeezed on her breast.

She then took the hand she had been using to push his arm and place it on her own breast to try to bat his hand away, at this point forgetting to tighten her hold on her fist in his hand. All her focus at the moment was to get his squeezing hand off her throbbing breast.

Big mistake.

He then forced her open hand on his length and to grip it with a good amount of care.

Nichole couldn't even look at him anymore. She stared at the whitish floor of the shower, feeling the bile rise in her throat once again.

_This can't be happening. My god.....my god no! _She screamed in her mind. Her stomach felt like it had turned on itself inside out as her nerves turned into a sickly feeling. Her hand that was wrapped around him felt like it was burning.

He forced her shaking hand to glide slowly over his quivering member a few times; his body becoming less tense as he made her. He took his free hand and grabbed the back of her hair bringing her head closer to his mouth. "Continue what you were doing." He hissed, refering to her washing him. "Don't stop because of me making you multi _task-kah._"

She looked up into his dark orbs with her tearful eyes. "Don't make me do this!" She begged, the tears in her eyes could not be hidden by the shower's ever flowing water.

He tightened his grip on her hair, making her ear be fully pressed into his mouth as he spoke; making every word make his lips brush against her ear.

"Do this…" he seethed, "… Or would you rather make me use your mouth instead of your hand?" She felt his lips form into a smile against her ear. He was so close to her. His breath fogging her eardrum with an unwelcomed warmth and water droplets.

She whimpered in her throat, and used her free hand to continue to rub the soap in on his back. The Joker was breathing very heavily and had his eyes shut as he still forced her hand run up and down. If she tried to resist, he'd dig a fingernail into her hand as a warning to stop. He was enjoying this so much. He removed his hand from her hair and quickly fastened it back on to her breast.

As she rubbed the soap on his back, she did so with absolutely no pressure at all, and his skin did not feel like it was actually under her hand. All her focus was on what her other hand was being forced to do. The disgusting task.

She leaned her head on the side of his shoulder, shutting her eyes and tears fell down her face and onto his arm. He couldn't tell. To him it felt like shower water. That...and he wasn't really paying attention to her emotions at the moment. She was so disgusted, her head felt like it was nothing but hot air. She felt as if her body was as weightless as the steam that they were surrounded in.

He suddenly tightened his hold on her hand and gripped her forearm with his other hand. He leaned his mouth so it was by her ear once more. "Don't stop." He said in a deep husky voice, letting go of both her forearm and hand.

Her hand on his back by this point fell limp by her side as she shuttered. Nichole then let her hand continue to slide slowly gripping his shaft. She gagged silently doing so, as the Joker let out a deep and long moan. The feeling of his member in her hands caused her to choke on her own breath once more. Her stomach couldn't take it as a large chunk of her stomach contents reached her mouth. She immediately swallowed it, and groaned out in pure disgust, opening her mouth so the shower water could wash out the taste.

He slightly turned his upper torso towards her and roughly twisted her breast making her groan. He was breathing heavily. She groaned again and whimpered as his thumb and finger quickly pinched her nipple before grabbing her breast whole again.

"Faster..." he breathed. Nichole, in panic, obeyed him fearing he would make her use her mouth if it wasn't good enough. She moved her hand faster, up and down his shaft at a quick speed. He groaned and his other hand slipped behind her and squeezed the left side of her rear bestially; surely leaving red claw marks.

She groaned.

The faster she moved, the more roughly he groped at her breast like an animal and squeezed her rear.

She wanted this tortured hell to be done.

_Please come soon, please come soon._ She begged inside of herself.

She moved faster, wanting for him to be finished and done so she could stop this. Then she could get back her freedom; even if it was only short lived.

The Joker licked his lips moaning out again. He then tensed again, and suddenly reached down removing her hand from him. His breathing was strained again. He was done.

Nichole took this time to run her hand under the water, to remove the feeling of him from her. She couldn't hide the agitated scream that came out of her as she wiped viciously at her hand with her other to get the tingling feeling away.

The Joker's hand was suddenly in her eye sight as he reached in front of her turning off the water. He said nothing as he pulled the shower curtain back and stepped out grabbing a towel.

He ran it through his shaggy green tinted and brown hair sending droplets onto the mirror and sink. He then dried off his skin and chest, not saying a word or even glancing at Nichole, who remained silent in the shower crying her eyes out. She was shaking, not from the cool air of the bathroom hitting her warm body, but of what he made her do.

_The pig. The monster. The fucking fucker! _She wanted to scream at him. She was seething on the inside.

Her mind felt like it was spiraling downwards and her knees were about to buckle. She gripped the wall next to her trying to remain standing. Her head was aching with a throbbing pain. The ringing of the shower's stream of water running out of the shower head, remained in her head, even though it was off. She tried to step out of the shower, but nearly tripped over her own two feet.

Once out, she reached for a towel laying the ground and began to dry herself off. The water felt sticky against her pale skin. She rubbed both her arms and legs free of the water. Then, she ran the towel over her chest and stomach wrapping herself in it, not wanting to be bare and exposed at the moment.

She took her hair in a bunch and squeezed the extra water out a few times in the tub. She shakily ran her fingers through her hair to need out the knots and snarls. She felt more tears coming as she sniffled loudly, trying to cover the sound by coughing. If the Joker saw her crying he would find so much joy in it and possible make it worse. She reached for the other towel on the ground and rubbed it roughly through her long hair before dropping it again.

This whole time, she could still feel her hand burning with disgust.

He threw his towel to the ground, eyeing his jacket and then turning around to look at Nichole. He raised an eyebrow seeing her blotchy red crying eyes and the towel around her.

He walked over to her slowly, her backing up the whole while. He reached a hand forward and yanked the towel roughly from her body. He threw the towel at the shower angrily. "Again I say it's not anything I haven't seen before, so stop making such a big deal out of it." He snapped harshly.

He grabbed her shoulder and shoved her forward towards the bathroom door; Nichole tripping and having to use the frame of the door to steady herself. He continued to push her until they were by his bed. She got the picture and quickly got under the blankets and slid over to her side by the wall and curled up into a ball. She faced the wall staring at it while tears flowed down her face. She felt him climb into bed as well, and by the sound of it he was facing away from her as well; she couldn't feel his breathing on her back.

There, naked and bare, they remained under the covers of the comforter of the bed not making a sound. They didn't even look at one another.

The Joker was satisfied with what he had done, thinking in his mind he deserved it for "saving" Nichole from dying. In his twisted mind she owed him, and now her debt was paid.

For now at least.

Nichole's fist hung tightly to the bed sheets beneath her, holding and focusing on the material in her hands. She was trying her best to seal the cries that were begging to come out of her mouth. She breathed unevenly and shaky as she choked on her muffled cries; the whimpering sounds from her were growing louder as the minutes passed.

She was surprised the Joker said nothing to her when they exited the shower. He barely even looked at her. She now got the feeling of the word "Plaything" in her mind. A toy used when wanted, but not looked at or thought about when put away in the toy box.

That's at least what_ she_ thought he felt about her......

She quickly grabbed a fistful of the blankets on her and held her mouth to it tightly. It felt like she was literally chocking herself to near death from not letting out her cries.

She figured by this point the Joker was sound asleep, and took a chance letting her sobs turn into hysterical cries of disgust and pain. She couldn't believe someone could be such a heartless and cruel person.

Her gasping cries and sobs sounded like pants and short spurs of breath being exhaled loudly with only more cries hanging on the very edge of her breath. She bit the inside of her cheeks trying to focus her attention away from her hand. She could still feel the feeling of him in her hands, even though she wasn't touching him. She knew was going to throw up if she continued to dwell on that feeling of him in her hands.

She felt the urge to cut the skin off the palms and fingers of her hands. That way, hopefully, the feeling on him would disappear.

Nichole stared at the wall in front of her, the cracks and crevasses in it blending together and black lines dancing across them. Her eyes were not adjusted to the darkness of the room. Pale moonlight shown in the half drawn curtains, but the shadows cast on the wall caused her eyes to play night light tricks on her.

Not even the shadows could bring her out of her lugubrious state of mind.

She continued to cry and cry, staring at the wall.

_Oh suck it up Nichole! It wasn't that bad!_ Candy complained. _Some of us are trying to get some sleep over here!_

"Don't....even...start with me..." Nichole muttered under her breath; her cries shielding the words from being audible to anyone but herself.

She flat out sobbed slowly counting the numbers 1 to 100 in her head, to try and calm herself down. It was something that her brother Nate taught her to do after dad left and she would go to his room in the middle of the night, and cry herself to sleep in his arms.

But nothing worked. The disgusted sick feeling she felt, the feeling of emptiness would not fade.

She felt her heart as well as her cries pound in her ears as she heard a very loud sigh, and the bed began to shake slightly as the Joker shifted himself so he was now facing Nichole's backside. She felt a hand snake itself slowly around her waist under the covers; his bare hand touching her bare skin. He attempted to pull her backwards so her back would be against his chest.

Nichole resisted, her cries only becoming louder as she tried to scoot herself closer to the wall she faced to get away from him.

_If only I wasn't so weak, if only I had my energy, if only I wasn't so drain, if only I was strong again I would beat him to a bloody pulp with my fists. _She told herself boldly. She was outraged! This monster had the nerve to even touch her after all he put her through and made her do.

The Joker only scooted himself closer to her. She continued to scoot to her right until she was against the wall, crushing his hand between her hip and the wall.

"Please....Go away!" She cried. The wall felt cold against every inch of her bare skin. She could feel the Joker trying to move himself closer to her, which would completely crush her ribs into the wall. He succeeded and pushed his chest into her backside. He moved his hand so it was wrapped around her upper chest and rested on her left breast.

"No! Get away from me!" She sobbed, having to roll onto her stomach to escape the pressure the wall was sending into her body. She began to thrash on her stomach. "Don't touch me!"

He was at the advantage at this point. He was able to scoot her body more to the center of the bed. He was lying fully on top of her, his legs even entwining with hers, while she laid on her stomach, tilting her head so it was on its right side staring at the empty, pitch black, depressing room. She could only see the outlines and shadows of the objects that cluttered the room.

His warm body was now covering almost of her entire backside. He rested his head on her right shoulder staring off at the same view she was looking at.

With his left hand on her breast he could feel the thing that always reminded him she was alive and breathing. He could feel her heartbeat better than ever he could before; her weight was pushing her heart closer to her chest and his hand felt like it was practically groping it through her skin. He felt it beat rapidly and pick up as the seconds passed.

He sighed, closed his eyes, and began to rub his face tenderly into her shoulder blade, taking in the warmth she gave off. He felt small goose bumps form on her tense and uncomfortable body. He leaned his neck upwards, tilting his resting head so his mouth was by her ear.

He breathed heavily into it, causing her tense body to shiver. "I am sick and tired of you crying for your hate of me. Do you wanna know something that might surprise you? ... I can make you cry out in _sooo_ many others ways… and let me tell ya darlin'.......... not all of them are in pain." He whispered in that same deep and husky voice he used in the shower.

She stopped her shaking from his one statement. It caused her shaking body to stop; all the feelings of disgust and hatred remained, but began to enervate slowly. She remained in a state of shock. Shock by what he was implying. Shock at how deep his voice reached. Shock at how many goose bumps were on her skin. It felt like the bed was no longer beneath her as her nerves picked back up. His voice and his statement still ran in her mind.

Her insides tore in half.

"...W-W-What." She stammered.

The Joker then leaned his head back down on her shoulder, face first; giving it slow short kisses on her bare warm skin. A small bit of saliva would be left behind each time he lifted his lips to give her back another peck, causing her skin to glisten on the faded moonlight. He trailed the kisses up to the back of her shoulder, breathing out evenly on her skin. He warmed her exposed body with his breath. Each warm air puff he'd send on her tense back, made her muscles involuntarily relax then tense back up when his breath left.

She felt his scars dragging on her skin each time he rested his face and laid a kiss on her body.

He then wrapped his other arm around her and tried to force her body to turn so she was facing him while he remained on top of her.

She could not believe this was happening.

_Beg_, she told herself. _Beg like you have never begged before._

She pleaded. "No! Haven't you done enough to me already!? It was bad enough taking that shower with you! You promised you wouldn't fuck me! Now leave me alone! PLEASE!" She began to thrash in his grip as she sobbed pitifully.

The Joker dug his fingernails into her stomach as he was finally able to flip her over so she was laying on her back, with him on top of her. His hard muscular chest crushed against her delicate one.

"That statement was only valid in the shower...and I don't know if you haven't noticed… but.....we are out of the shower." He grinned teasing her with his set of yellow teeth.

Leave it to him to find a loophole.

She brought her hands up and tried furiously to push him off of her, her fingers clawing at his chest. She began to shake in fear and cry helplessly.

She wasn't strong enough but she told herself that she would not let this happen again.

The tears streamed rapidly down her face. "N-n-no g-get off of m-m-me!" She choked between her sobs, "Please don't do this! Please don't do this! I don't want to!" Her head began to spin in turmoil as her walls she set as her bastion crumbled and crushed down around her weak defenseless body.

The Joker was able to gather her wrists in his hands and roughly pin them above her head. He looked down at her, with his wild unreadable eyes. His eyes that held danger in them, a fire that was trying to burn her.

Nichole could even see those dark orbs in a clearly darker shade of the nearly pitch black room. Other than that, she could only see the outline of his face.

"You should be thankful that I never laid an unwanted hand on your bare sick body the past three days. I prefer it when you are awake and aware. Just like I hope you are aware of whom I am. I am _not _your Tom… I am the monster from the dreams you have… Well right now the monster is here Nichole. He's here, and he is hungry.."

Nichole froze. The Joker kept saying "Tom" today. He kept bringing his name up. Something wasn't right. He wouldn't normally do this unless something happened, that she did that would remind him of Tom.

Suddenly more images of the past few days buzzed into her mind.

_She saw the Joker standing above her, looking down at her in debate. She was on the bed having hypothermia and shaking. Completely out of it. He then stripped her of her clothes and replaced them with warmer articles of clothing, but in the state when he was putting new clothing on the look on his face. He was debating on grabbing at her and fondling her. But he did not. He continued to place the clothing on her and then got into bed with her, giving her his body heat. _

The images in Nichole's mind scrambled more, until she was unable to focus on another one.

Sweat started to form on the back of her neck as she was taken from her thoughts by the Joker who was leaning down to kiss her.

She could tell of this from the pressure his body held and his breath that was closing in on her face.

She turned her head to the side, narrowly avoiding his lips. He let out a small chuckle as he placed his mouth by her ear.

He whispered bestially with aggression, "I saved your life and I took you in… As far as I'm aware, I didn't do everything that I_ wanted_ to do in the shower…"

He leaned to the left following her avoiding head. She struggled now trying to move her head to the right to escape him, but he continued to follow her movements. His lips grazed her cheek, kissing hungrily as he gained on her mouth. Doing as he expected, she tried to lurch her head to the other side to avoid him. There, his lips caught hers when she tried to turn her head yet again. He savored her flavor for just a moment, as he hadn't kissed her in over a week. That is...he himself had not kissed her. He did not count last night when she kissed him thinking he was Tom as a kiss.

She tried to turn her head out of his but the action was futile. He tightened his grip on her wrists, digging his fingernails into the delicate skin by her wrists. This time due to all the pressure he was adding on her lips, she was not able to move her head anymore. Her screams could only be muffled by his greedy mouth. She gasped as he bit down slightly on her lip.

The Joker took her gasp to his advantage as he thrust his tongue into her mouth.

The Joker suddenly brought his knees up, so one knee was on each side of her as he straddled her waist and sat up on her, letting go of her wrists. The blankets rose up as he did (remaining on his shoulders) creating a dark curtain around them. All her focus was on him as he towered over her weak laying-down figure. She could only see a dark silhouette leaning over her.

"You have no idea of the urges I had while you were away. Sure they were bad with your absence in Arkham......but it had been a bit that I had you, so I forgot all the little emotions that would play on your face whenever you gave yourself to me." She could hear his grin in his voice as he teased her.

He suddenly fell forward, coming crashing down towards her. Nichole feared he was going to crash right onto her chest and let out a small scream. But the moment just before he would have fallen fully on top of her, he placed both his hands on either side of her face, on the bed. His smiling face only inches from hers. He looked directly into her eyes, sending his warm breath all over her face. The tears that were on her cheeks were blown off, landing on the pillow.

He remained staring her deadlock in the eyes as he said, almost in a strained voice."You should learn to sleep with your eyes open...because they entertain me so much. The mixed emotions in them....just make me-" He stopped mid sentence licking his lips. The edge of his tongue flicked against her lips. She began to feel lightheaded.

Oh how she prayed she would suddenly pass out and momentarily escape this reality.

But her body was up and alert, and would not let her pass out or lose consciousness any time soon.

Nichole was in a trance like state as she stared into his two dark orbs. They were like two tunnels gobbling her up in the darkness that was already around her.

The Joker took his hands that were on either side of her face, and placed them now directly on her face, cupping it. He then leaned down smashing his lips to hers. His tongue traced her chap lips and his scars danced on the sides of her mouth intimidating her. His serpent tongue squeezed between her lips and explored her mouth once more.

He had forgotten how much fun this was.

She let out a small scream, and a very muffled "No!".

To her surprise he stopped kissing her mouth and leaned his head up away from hers before he leaned his head down to the nape of her neck, and began to roughly sucking on it. He spent not much time there though. He was heading down to one of his favorite grazing spots. Her chest.

He greedily trailed his mouth in the space between her breasts taking in her sweat and smell. It was intoxicating. He trailed his mouth to her left breast kissing and sucking on her fleshy mound, tracing the outer ring of her nipple with his tongue.

She arched her back, gasping, as he continued to trace his tongue around her nipple before he greedily took it in his mouth.

Nichole's breathing picked up, as she felt a feeling. A small....dim feeling. With the Joker being gentle at the moment, she dare felt a small amount of pleasure?

Candy picked up on what she was feeling and started laughing wildly._ Well...Nichole can't you see what he is doing? He is challenging himself. He is forcing himself to pleasure you by being gentle. He wants to hear you "scream in other ways than pain". But in my eyes-...he seems to enjoy this as well. _In her last sentence her voice started to sound full of irritation and a hint of jealously.

He gently bit down as his other hand cupped her other breast, flicking her hard nipple with his thumb as he squeezed.

He ran his mouth down to her stomach, hovering his mouth above her belly button. He took a deep breath in and exhaled loudly sending a burst of hot air on her stomach. He looked up at her face to see her reaction, as his face held a twisted smile, seeing her catch her breath at this small sexual act. It was sending her unwanted pleasure. He was winning his own challenge.

He sent another spur of hot air on her bare stomach before sitting up and scooting backwards so his mouth was on her knee. He slowly trailed his mouth up to her inner thigh, taking her whole leg in his hands, rubbing at it slowly. He did this act very slowly, and making sure to breath warm breaths onto her tender inner leg.

Nichole shut her eyes, the breaths leaving her mouth rapid and hard. She brought her hands to her face, over her eyes in embarrassment. She wanted him to stop. The unwanted pleasure was starting to toy with her mind to not stop him physically herself.

"No....S-s-stop." She told him, in her whisper. She wasn't sure if he heard her. The pleasure was in the pit of her stomach against her will (or was it Candy's will?). She gasped as she felt his gentle breaths on her sex.

_Oh god make him stop._ She thought to herself; to Candy; to anyone who could hear her. But Candy was not answering Nichole for once. Candy...was....pissed at the moment.

The Joker laid back down on her, burying his mouth into her neck sucking on a patch of her skin, until he could taste blood being sucked out of her raw pores on her red patch of skin. He brought his hand to her chest, squeezing at her breast. The other hand holding her face down, as he placed his lips once more on hers, sucking at her bottom lip devouring it whole as if it was food.

She groaned in pain. It felt like he was trying to suck her skin right off of her. She felt his scars lift up, indicating that he was smiling, and began to use his teeth to bite harder.

He traced his hand lightly caressing her skin on her stomach. Slowly he made his way down below her stomach, taking his sweet time to prolong the moment.

Nichole was able to overpower the pleasure being received and brought one of her hands down towards his lingering one reaching closer and closer to her sex.

"No don't-" She started, but the Joker was too fast; he quickly moved his hand down, grasping at her area lightly, letting his fingers dance around her folds and then to her clit.

"Oh God!" She groaned. She turned her head to the side. She didn't want her eyes adjust to the darkness enough to see his triumphant face.

The Joker snaked his free hand up to the side of her face.

He tore his mouth away from her neck and leaned his head directly above hers. "Look, I know that you didn't enjoy this last time and I know that Candy loved it the last time a week ago...but I want you to try and enjoy it for once Nichole...It's annoying that you cry whenever I touch you in anyways I want. And like I said...I can make you cry in others way than just pain…" He leaned his forehead into her hers. "Let me....show you." He leaned back, holding her eyes with his.

Nichole shook her head, her breathing picking up more with his mouth no longer on hers. He watched her facial expression licking at his lips.

The Joker sighed "Or would you rather me go all the way now without you prepared......for the _intrusion-nah_."

Before she could respond and struggle, he started to make his fingers swirl in circular motions around her; around her clit.

Nichole gasped and tried to shuffle her body up from underneath him with her arms.

The Joker felt her movements and followed her movements, keeping his fingers glued to his spot, going rougher with his fingers on her most sensitive nub.

Her yelp turned into a groan of pain as tears slid down the corner of her eyes; he was adding far too much pressure on her to handle. She stopped trying to scoot up, hoping he would stop adding so much unwanted pressure.

He chuckled at the sound she made and the look of pain on her face. "You're not going anywhere babe." He moved his fingers so they added just the right amount of pressure to her clit. She let out an unwanted moan.

She gasped, at the amount of pleasure she was receiving in this, and pulled at his hand with less effort as the burning feeling in her stomach and body was all her mind could focus on.

She wondered in her mind if Candy was purposely toying with her mind, to force the small amount of pleasure he was giving her to be blown out of proportion and be an emotion so big that it was overpowering Nichole's desire for him to stop.

Did Candy have that kind of power? And if so, why would she do that?

Candy herself would prefer to be in control in this situation and not let Nichole be. But Nichole had control now. She knew this, because she was the one extending her fingers out and grabbing at the bed's sheets to clench a fist full as the Joker swirled his finger, teasing her with the suspension of entering his finger.

"Oh God!" She cried out again, arching her back. She knew she had to fight herself and fight Candy as well.

_Stop this Candy! STOP THIS! I know what you are doing and I can feel your pleasure_, she begged Candy in her mind.

_SHUT UP NICHOLE!_ Candy screamed in pure anger and hatred. _Just because I can't control your body fully now, doesn't mean that I can ignore his pleasure and that I can't pretend that it's me that he wants!_

Nichole and Candy moaned as the Joker kept his thumb on her clit but brought his other two fingers to swirl over her inner ring.

She sunk her teeth into her bottom lips, cringing. This had to stop and it had to stop NOW before Candy's pleasure fully took control over Nichole's body. Nichole knew that even though she could feel Candy's pleasure, that Candy was too weak and heartbroken to control their body.

In other words, Nichole had the control of her body, but felt the pleasure she was recieving. And that pleasure was being manipulated by the dormant Candy, so that that pleasure was greatened or heightened to the point where Nichole could only focus on the pleasure the Joker was giving her, and not of trying to stop him.

"Please…stop." She begged with her eyes closed.

He used his other hand to tug on her hair, "Don't… Lie… To…Me." He whispered dangerously.

He then slightly brought his fingers away and cupped his hand over her fleshy mound. His middle finger rested over her slick entrance…

He inserted his finger slowly, still watching her face. Watching every tear that dropped from her eyes, and every twitch she would make.

Nichole groaned as his finger entered her. She then arched her back when he moved his finger back out of her and then quickly back into her. This time, he had entered his finger in her deeply.

She shut her eyes as she felt something in her throat. She couldn't hold it in. A soft moan came out. The pleasure was overtaking her.

The Joker, leaned his face closer placing his mouth by her ear as he took a fistful of her hair. "That better not be Candy I am hearing Nichole." He hissed.

He took his mouth away from her ear and looked into her eyes. They told the whole story. The tears falling and the hopeless look in her eyes. This was most definitely Nichole in control, and she was moaning at him. And not liking it at all. This unwanted pleasure was working well on her.

The Joker felt her body less tense as he paced his finger softly in and out of her wet self. He was feeling satisfied with his advantage at the moment and went back to kissing her on the lips, resisting the urge to become rough with her, knowing it would break the hypnotic and seductive effect he had on her. Boy would she be mad in the morning...

Her hips moved with his finger; entering and reentering her again and again. She gasped and her eyes went wide when he quickly added a second finger, not breaking the rhythm.

Through her half closed eyes, she could see his dark figure in the shadows leaning over her boldly.

As the Joker stared at her (hardly visible to Nichole) moaning, shaking body he felt the need to do something new…

To try something and watch those emotions play on her face the way a movie hits the white screen from the projector.

After a few more thrusts with his fingers, as her hips met them, he moved his wrist causing his hand and the fingers entering her to move in a tantalizing half turn each time they slid into her. He stared at her face as her eyes squeezed shut tightly and her groaning got louder. Her body tensed more than it ever was and she tightened her grip on the bed sheets.

After a while he stopped turning his fingers inside of her and continued to pump his fingers into her normally. His thumb found her clit and circled it with fluid as he pumped.

This sent her over the edge, her voice was almost screaming. She couldn't believe the unforgivable pleasure his hand gave her. The air was burning as she breathed it in huge gasps.

"Oh God! Oh God!" She said under her breath as he continued.

He couldn't contain himself anymore… not after hearing her sweet voice.

He took his fingers out of her. He had to get more pleasure for himself now.

He leaned up and traced his hand back up her stomach leaving a clear liquid trail behind. Her breath hinged, in preparation.

Instead of quickly entering her like she expected him to, he quickly held her chin between his thumb and finger as he roughly crashed his mouth into hers.

Nichole welcomed it, but didn't respond.

In Candy's heartbroken desperation to reach out for the Joker to want her, and with her last pit of compelling energy to, she scooted her mouth into Nichole's and kissed the Joker back passionately.

The Joker was aware that this in fact was Candy kissing him, but he paid no mind.

Once Candy's mouth left Nichole's, Nichole's jaw tensed.

He then knew that Candy was gone.

As he kissed her un-submitting mouth he quickly brought his hands down to her legs to bend her knees up. She obeyed him willingly, her body giving in by the burning moments. He then rested on his forearms as he positioned himself to aim at her directly.

Nichole gasped loudly and broke away from his mouth as he had moved his member so that the tip of it would slide down her slit.

The Joker was looking smug as ever as he brought his mouth back down to hers.

She moved from his mouth and moaned loudly in his ear when he thrust into her. This momentarily caused the hairs on the back of his neck to stand straight up.

One thing he had said earlier ran through her mind._ Or would you rather me go all the way now without you prepared......for the intrusion-nah._

That was it. He had pleasured her to the point; it would not cause her pain when he started to perform the initial act. Normally she was tense and tight, but now had all her muscles relaxed.

_No...No mind...STOP LIKING THIS! For the love of god! Stop this Nichole! Candy whatever your doing with my emotions stop! _Nichole yelled into her mind, not knowing who to blame. Candy or herself. _The Joker...no this is his fault! He did all those things to pleasure you! He's doing this on purpose. Don't give in. Fight IT! _She screamed at herself.

He continued to thrust into her, placing his hands by her chest squeezing at her breasts. He was grunting with each movement.

Nichole moaned again, her breath caught in her throat as she did so. She opened her eyes to look up at the Joker. She could see his face briefly in the moonlight: His mouth was hanging open, his eyes rolling towards the back of his head, and his tongue on his scar. He was clearly having the time of his life.

He grunted as he leaned his upper body off of hers. He then moved up to his knees as he pulled her hips up with his member inside of her as well. She gasped at the change of the pressure of him taking her while he leaned back on his knees as he dove in and out of her.

She tore her hands from the bed sheets and instead grasped underneath the pillow her head was sweating on.

"Oh God! Oh God! Oh God!" She said over again and again like before, this time she moaned the words loudly. She laid on the bed, moaning and clutching the pillow behind her head.

His slightly damp hair from the shower stuck to his face as he squeezed his eyes shut, gasping for air. He looked down at her and found himself lost in his darkness clouded sight of Nichole.

But his eyes, unlike Nichole's, were much adjusted to the dark and the night.

He could not believe what he was seeing: The sweat on her body made her skin glisten in the dark moonlight. The glisten was almost a refulgent light to him. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly open, letting out the sweet sounds she made as she leaned her head far back on the pillow.

She felt herself contract and un-contract with each pull and push he made.

Her breasts jiggled and bounced rhythmically with his movements.

The Joker quickly leaned over and took a nipple between his teeth gently, rolling his tongue over it.

He leaned back and with one hand still clutching her hip, he reached with the other and slid it up her hipbone and let it rest on the dark bruise on her stomach. He then proceeded in tracing every bruise on her battered torso before grasping her bouncing breast in a fluid motion.

Her chest heaved under his hand as she moaned and panted.

"_Please..." _Nichole said as she moaned.

The Joker then blinked on the next thrust leaning down closer to her ear. His tongue hit her ear as he slowly grunted in a husky, seductive voice. "Whisper to me Nichole....Whisper to me....Tell me that you want some more."

"_Yesssssss."_ Nichole moaned louder, his voice staying in her mind even after he spoke. Each syllable playing over in her mind. His tone of voice. The pleasure he was giving her. The only happy feeling she had in the longest time. She was being selfish. She was taking the pleasure forgetting the man giving it to her was the monster. She had to stop herself, but she couldn't. Her body wasn't letting her.

Candy had sent the blown out of proportion pleasure to Nichole and it was working. But in fact Nichole could no longer think about Candy and her plans at the moment. All her focus was on the Joker and the feeling he gave to her body.

The Joker tensed up at her moan, moaning out himself as he suddenly in mid thrust rolled over, holding onto her back, so that now he was on bottom and she was on top of him.

She yelped at this new position, she fell on his chest a little. He placed his hands on her hips and continued to move her on top of him.

She winced and leaned her head over his chest, gritting her teeth as she collected the sheets into fists in her hands.

This did not feel right.

She quickly sat up and dug her knees into the bed, causing him to stop moving her on top of him.

She looked down at him uncertain. The moonlight was hitting only his torso, but kept his shadowed face hidden in the darkness.

He looked up at her determined. "Come on Nichole, give up. Just give up and show me what you've got." He hissed.

Nichole froze, to his dismay.. She came to her senses for this spare moment, since no pleasure was being received to her at the moment. She brought her hands up and covered her breasts. The blankets on the two of them had become tangled as the Joker rolled over, so now they were all under the Joker. Nothing hid Nichole's backside, and a slight chill in the air reaching her.

He rolled his eyes irritated and took hold of her hands and placed them on the center of his chest roughly. "Don't stop Nichole....release your energy."

She could not believe what he was asking.

That look in his eyes returned. The wild and unpredictable look.

Candy's voice returned for the first time in what felt like hours._ Just....go ahead Nichole. Pleasure him_. Candy sounded like she was crying. Not in joy, but of sadness, jealously.

_Release my energy...Release my hate into him. Release all that you fucking did you monster._ She thought to herself, as she looked him dead in the eye. He grew angry. He glanced over at the side table at a knife.

_Pretend...it's not him._ Nichole told herself _Or release your anger._

With a growl of anger, she started to sock her hips. His body relaxed under her as he began to smile greedily; Nichole could see his scars raise into that smile.

She growled in frustration at him. Not wanting to be doing this at all. She felt that spark again. That pleasure. She rode into that pleasure, shutting her eyes and picturing a different scenario.

Her teeth were now fully barred as she seethed at him in rage. She abominated him with every fiber in her being for making her feel this pleasure from him.

She was thankful she couldn't see him clearly under her.

_Release your hate! Release your hate! _

She picked up her pace and rode him faster and harder and harder. She moaned as she leaned her head back, her hair falling over her back. She stared at the ceiling, closing her eyes, imagining it was someone else she was riding.

The immense pleasure was unbearable and her being on top incremented her body's selfish lust for pleasure. Her body wanting to feel something other than the pain it has felt for such a long time.

She was brought out of her dream world in a different scenario with a different man, when she felt those rough hands latch on to her breasts, squeezing. She then heard faint laughter. When she looked down the Joker placed his hands on her hips as his laughter began to pick up: He was getting her to do what he wanted.

He loved winning.

She seethed with rage and hate, his laughter only increased it.

"YOU MURDERING PSYCHOPATHIC MONSTER! FUCK YOU!" She screamed at him. She continued to pant and moan as she screamed at him.

The Joker then stopped laughing but kept that stupid grin on his face. He then tore his hands from her hips before he roughly grabbed her cheeks with a loud smack on her ass as he penetrated her with no mercy.

"You are!" he smirked and began to laugh louder than ever.

Nichole screamed as his greedy hands groped her rear roughly as he would crash her down on him with his hands as he would lift up. He was hitting all of her high notes.

Even with her on top, he still remained dominant.

The Joker laid his head back on his pillow staring at the ceiling grunting at each thrust and muttering under his breath. "Come on come on. I wantcha to do it. Give up. GIVE UP!"

"Ohhh…FUCK!" Nichole moaned loudly as she screamed, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. She was feeling lightheaded. She whimpered and moaned when her selfish body moved her hips rougher on him. "Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck!"

With her eyes closed, she was able to fully conjure up the scenario she made up with Tom. When Nichole opened her eyes into slits, she faintly saw Tom's sweating body appear underneath her. His dark hair clung to his sweaty face as his chest heaved.

"_Oh…God, Nichole.." Tom moaned, leaning his head far back on the pillow, "Just like that, baby. Just like that."_

_Tom then removed one of his hands from her cheeks as his thumb began to lightly rub her clit._

She moaned and closed her eyes again, "Oh…Tom…" she breathed.

The Joker's eyes instantly snapped open as he leaned his head up on the pillow.

Her eyes were still closed as her sweaty body swayed over him in the moonlight. Her breasts were glistening with sweat as she kept on moaning regularly. The Joker saw this: Clearly, she had not known what she said.

The Joker fumed as he realized that she was probably pretending that that corpse was what she was pretending to be having the time of her life with.

The Joker then decided to give his Nichole a reminder of whom she was _really_ having sex with…

Nichole gasped in surprise as the Joker's hand went to her back, grabbing a fistful of her hair and yanking her head back, but not enough to cause her serious harm. He then let go of her hair, and rested his hand on her back as he flipped her over on the bed. He then spread her legs and brought her knees up to her chest. He let out the most bestial growl as he thrust into her roughly.

He then did something that caused Nichole's voice to jump into a paroxysm of a staccato of screams…

As he pounded inside of her, he started to rotate his pelvis in a rotating motion grinding roughly into her. This caused his member to move roughly inside of her, hitting every one of her high notes imaginable. When he found the stop that made Nichole's loudest vocalizations, he stopped grinding and brought her legs to his sides and began to pound into that spot mercilessly.

Her screams echoed off the walls.

She also moaned loudly.

He leaned his body forward, not breaking his pace, and sunk his teeth into her neck savagely.

"OH!... JOKER! OH MY GODDD!!! OH FUCK!" Nichole screamed, digging her nails into his back.

She found herself uncontrollable clenching and unclenching. Dots formed in front of her eyes.

She screamed as a gush of fire burst out of her as she let go and came.

She removed her hands limply from his back and held them on either side of her head. She was exhausted and all of her energy enervated completely.

He wasn't done though.

The Joker kept pumping into her for a good long minute, keeping her moaning before he too came. He groaned loudly into her neck as he did so before he collapsed on her weak and sweaty body.

"Ah...." He made that light noise as he removed himself from her, dripping wet and collapsed right back on top of her.

He didn't bother to move his sweaty hot body from hers. Instead, he just wrapped his arms behind her back, holding her tightly to him. He was going to sleep like this. Lying fully on top of her.

The Joker scooted his body so his head was laying on her chest now, rather than her neck. The side of his face was on her breast as he placed his ear by her heart listening to its rapid beating. It was beating faster than it had when he felt it before the little "fun" they just had.

He sighed, feeling the cool air of the room on his back (as the blankets were still underneath them at this point).

He quickly reached up behind him and grabbed the comforter that had moved to the foot of the bed during the ordeal they just had and threw it on top and over them. He settled himself back into her breasts, with his arms wrapped around her back and everything, still listening to her heart.

Nichole was still unaware of what she said that caused to Joker to finish her off so roughly.

Instead, with her arms limply to her sides, she stared at the dark ceiling abstantly. She couldn't believe it. For the first time, she, herself, had willingly had sex with the monster.

And what made it worse was that she didn't only enjoy it, she _loved _it… She had never had an orgasmic experience before.

Though she was too tired to beat herself up for what a terrible selfish person she was. She was already adulterated enough by him for it to even matter.

She gasped as she felt a frisson engulf her hot body.

She then found herself swallowed back up in the phantasmagoric state of her chimerical dream again… The dream with Tom when he woke her up from her nightmare.

She remembered how real he felt into her arms and how real his lips felt against hers. It couldn't have just been a dream… a part of it had to have been real.

Then, the dreaded realization occurred in her frangible mind that felt as if it couldn't have been broken enough than it already was.

_She saw herself waking in the middle of the night screaming from the night terror. The Joker got up next to her instantly alert. He looked at her and called her name a few times. He then placed a hand on her shoulder when she wouldn't answer him._

_Nichole turned to him… ____That's when it happened, __she saw Tom's beautiful face staring at her…in place of the Joker's. _

_She started crying in hysterics, calling him "Tom" and then hugged him tightly. She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him lightly for a few seconds and then hugged him begging him to stay with her at night._

_The Joker's facial expression this whole time was in utter shock. He didn't know how to react at all. He simply had let Nichole think he was Tom and do nothing to stop her and her hallucination_

_Tom's face was such a desideratum to Nichole, that she hallucinated it to be on the very man that she hated… and without her realizing it!_

Nichole felt her face grow hot after that realization. Hot tears began to pour out of her eyes. Her face broke and her lips trembled as her chest quavered in the early stages of crying.

The Joker felt her chest quaver as her heartbeat sky-rocketed only after it was just relaxing.

He sunk his teeth into his lip, figuring she was going to give him another crying fest again.

He heard Nichole gasp as she started to breathe out of her mouth frenetically. She then slowed her breathing down to a normal rate.

He heard her wet lips open and dreaded what she was going to say next. He tightened his arms around her awaiting his dread.

"It was you, wasn't it." She said, her voice was thick due to the ineluctable sobs she was trying to hold back.

The Joker, paused, surprised at what she said and became utterly confused. He leaned his head to the other side so his voice would not be muffled in her breast.

"What?" He asked.

Nichole licked her lips before she answered: "Last night… I had a dream about… about Tom."

The Joker turned his head back the other way, tensing at the sound of his name again. He nibbled on her breast to keep himself from exploding.

She groaned at the minimal pain, but continued. "But he felt so r-real," her voice started to shake as her sobs built up more in her throat. The Joker trailed his nibbling teeth all around her breast to distract him from exploding. He quickly flicked his tongue at her nipple before he continued his nibbling trail. Nichole held back the sobs in her throat and took a few calming breaths before she continued: "…That was you, wasn't it? …I…saw… you… as Tom last night…"

He kissed her nipple once before looking up at her; her teeth were sinking in her bottom lip as her tear stained face shook, trying to control herself. "Yes." He said, looking at her intently, "Little did you know that your hallucination was actually in the form of his face over your personal monster." He muzzled his face back into her chest again, listening to her quivering heart.

Nichole laid there in spell bounded shock. The sobs in her throat began to lessen as the tears rolled silently down her face.

After a while, she tentatively reached up her hand and hesitated.

The Joker felt and heard the muscles shift in her right side and he was fully aware that her arm was raised. He sighed and sunk his teeth into his bottom lip; if she was going to hit him, he wouldn't stop it for once.

But to his surprise, she reached up and pat her shaking hand gently on his shoulder.

He looked up at her, shocked, and even rested her hand on his shoulder.

She stared at his dark face with sad eyes. "Thank you…" She said. More tears pooled down her face. "For not telling me that it was you and for letting me have my few hours of bliss, believing that it was him… I know that it m-m-must h-have been… very frustrating for you… But thank you.." She swallowed and clenched her fist with her other hand, digging her nails into her palm, praying that it would keep her from crying. She continued, "..also for saving me from Arkham… And for taking care of me." Her voice cracked at the last word and she sniffled, but still looked him dead in the eye, letting him know she was sincere.

He stared into her sad eyes. The Joker was speechless. This, was, the first time she ever thanked him for anything.

He continued to stare at her for a little, giving a small nod to show he heard everything she said. He didn't know what to say at the moment.

She closed her eyes and he laid back down on her chest.

And to his dismay, she gently took her hand off of his shoulder, and laid it limply beside them.

* * *

**Kait:** Well...There it is. the chapter we worked SO hard on and Sydney and I have been so excited for it.

**Joker:** Well 16,000 plus words IS a lot. _(tilts head at chapter)_

**Sydney:** _(punches the air)_ YEAH! We loved this chapter and the reason it took so long was we had to plan out EVERYTHING. Like every movement and smile and laugh and well you get the point _(giggles)_

**Kait:** So please please review, because we really did work hard for you guys and seriously reading your reviews brings smiles to Sydney's and I's faces, they reall motavate us to type more and more. And on that note i wanna say something. Sydney has been such a wonderful beta to this story and adds and imputs SO much. She does just as much work as me. That's why i think its an insult and and understatement for me to call her my Beta reader. To me she is considered a Co-Author. She loves and cares for the story and its characters as much as me and I could not ask for a better partner in this journey. I just want you all to not consider her just a beta, but as the second author from now on. She deserves so much credit that isn't given. Love ya Sydney!

**Group:** _(hugs...even the Joker. Cause he was forced.)_

******NEW Fanart in Profile By Darkgrey-nymphette*****


	42. An Unexpected Friend

**Kait:** A few things need to be said before you read. One: Sorry for the late update. Two: It has been brought to my attention that what Nichole and Candy have is similar to something in the show called "Heros". I can honestly say i have never watched that show or any episode at all. I only member watching the first episode like the first two minutes and it was in some foriegn country in a hut or something and i got bored and shut it off because hero/super hero things aren't appealing to me at all (except the Batman franchise....And V for Vendetta). The only clips i have seen of the show after that have been on my favorite show _"The Soup"_ with Joel Mchale as he makes fun of TV entertainment. I do not know the plot of it only that it has something to do with a cheerleader and she is played by that girl Hayden Patinar or something and she was in the Bring it On movie. This is a complete consciencedence if Nichole and Candy are like someone on that show. I came up with the idea of their split personality by myself with no media help, except for the idea of a candy theme being her alter ego was influenced by me having to play Candyland with a child i used to babysit. Originally....Candy's theme was going to be straight up something to do with roses. Telling ya know. But, i thought that be too like Poison Ivy and went with candy.

**Sydney:** _(rolls eyes)_ So… If you want to flame our story MAKE SURE YOU GET YOU'RE FUCKING ACCUSATIONS RIGHT! Jeez fucking idiots…Another thing brought up was if Kait was a skitzo or not. Some people thought i was not a real person. Well i am here to tell you yes i am a real person! I have a myspace and facebook. If you want to see i have a link in my fanfic profile user name **Loretta Lolita**. Just as Kait has a myspace link in her fanfic profile. It was quite funny to read that comment. _(giggles)_

**Kait:** One more thing that has to do with this chapter. There is something that Nichole does (with No Joker involvement in that action) that some people may question as to why she would do it or find it very offensive if they are strict play by the rule book type of a person, nothing wrong with that of course. But you all should keep in mind while reading this that Nichole does not care about the quality of her life anymore and thinks her life is basically over. She also is insane. You can't beat around the bush with that one. She is insane and not right in the head and she knows it. She also barely feels at ease and relaxed ever anymore, so if she could do something to make her get the feeling of relaxment, then she would do it. She is desprete. And if by now you haven't guessed what she is going to do, once you read it, it will all make sense.

**Sydney:** I had to add it! It was like a must!_

* * *

_

When Nichole sluggishly opened her eyes the next morning, she noticed that everything was quiet.

Too quiet.

She also noticed that her chest felt light and moved up and down freely with her breathing; there was no literal weight on it anymore.

The silence of the Joker's room; no breathing except of her own. She sat up in the bed, a rush of cold stained her bare body as she fully sat up. As her eyes adjusted to the light of day, her senses came to her. She looked around the room.

Suddenly, her mind became flooded with all of the erotic memories of last night. Her remembrance reeled in her head like a film of everything that happened from the shower....to the hot, strong, wet body of the Joker, sweating on top of her as he moved.

_No…_

She brought her hands to her face and clenched them into fists on her temples.

_It couldn't have been, it couldn't have been…_

A growl of frustration and shame came out of her as she went into another reminiscent of last night: The Joker's body, was under her. His head was leaning far back on the pillow as he moaned with his eyes shut tightly. Nichole felt herself moving and riding him as he grabbed hold of her rear and pulled her down on him as he pushed up. The pace got faster-

"NO!" Nichole screamed. She took a pillow from the bed and threw it into the desk, sending the materials placed on it to fly in disarray.

She quickly looked around her and was relieved that the Joker was not in the room.

Her mind started to buzz once again about last night. How much had happened in a single night. She had sex with the Joker, and this time it was much different. It was (dare she even think it?) not that bad. He had given her pleasure; an enormous amount of it. Her body had never felt like it had last night. She didn't even think that feeling was possible. She felt herself shudder.

_Candy must have had something to do with that._ Nichole thought to herself. _Can you hear me Candy? I want to know what you did last night that caused the pleasure to come to me in such a force that I enjoyed the sex!_

After a few moments of silence Nichole grew angry Candy was not speaking to her.

_Fine give me the cold shoulder! Please be my guest and do that, because it is so lovely to not hear your voice! _Nichole spat at Candy.

_I'll explain later...when I feel like it!_ Candy growled angrily. The jealous tone in her voice from last night had not ceased this morning.

_Whatever._ Nichole sighed.

Nichole drew up her knees and wrapped her arms around her legs burying her face into her knees. She shut her eyes, feeling a mixed emotion of embarrassment and disgust. Disgust for willingly having sex with that monster and embarrassment of the whole ordeal. She knew he had watched her facial expression almost the entire time during it, so he knew she enjoyed it.

He knew that he got her to do exactly what he wanted.

He knew he won his little game of trying to be gentle and pleasure her.

Only at the end he had picked it up and it actually began to hurt a little. She wondered what triggered him to suddenly act more beast like. She cringed at the memory of him grinding his lower region as his most dreaded part of him was inside her before he pounded his hardness on her most sensitive spot mercilessly.

She figured he could not hold back anymore. Maybe he had pent up all his desire to do things _his_ way until finally he could not hold in his rough like urges anymore.

She did not want to think about seeing the Joker at all today. He would most definitely tease her about last night and look at her with that smug look of his. At that point she would have to resist all urges to shove her foot where it would hurt him.

It would so awkward and even just thinking about looking at him today or have him say anything to her made her so nervous to the point of feeling sick to her stomach.

The other major event that happened last night that still was buzzing in Nichole's mind was the fact she learned that she had hallucinated Tom over the Joker's form and had kissed and hugged him in her chimerical state of mind. And how he had allowed it and did not break her from her hallucinating state, even though he hates Tom with an ever loving passion.

She felt embarrassed she had thanked him. The look on her face when she did; he had been utterly shocked she did so. And her, herself, was in shock she did so too. But the hesitated act of thanking him and patting him just needed to be done, in her mind. He was angry she even brought it up, and Nichole did not want to fall asleep with him mad at her. It might spark mischievous ideas. And also Nichole was always being called ungrateful by Candy and the Joker.

Or, this was what Nichole was telling herself…

And she thought what she did by thanking him was pretty damn grateful. Now they couldn't call her that without her being able to correct them and say she was grateful.

Nichole decided to shoo away all of her disgusting, shameful, and embarrassing thoughts and look for some clothing; as the cold room made her body start to form goose bumps.

She leaned her legs slowly off the bed, kicking the damp sheets off of her, and eyed every inch of the floor for clothing. She started to panic as she could not see any clothing.

She was able to find her matching black bra and underwear in the bathroom and put them on immediately, but her clothing was nowhere in sight. The old ones she wore the three days she was sick and right before the shower yesterday, she figured he threw away or something as they were very dirty.

While in the bathroom she stole a glance at herself in the mirror. She couldn't hold in the loud gasp as she eyed her body. Numerous patches of red Hickeys infested her chest, stomach, and especially her neck. The bruises on her from days ago were starting to slowly fade and looked rather dull compared to the raw patches of red where the Joker had sucked on her. She ran her fingers over the most ghastly looking one on her neck and rubbed it tenderly. Images of exactly how she acquired her red skin patches ran through her head.

She rushed out of the bathroom trying again to rid away those thoughts.

She wrapped a blanket that was on the floor around her as she walked over to the closet, praying clothing was in there.

She sighed, seeing only two boxes on the floor of the closet. Curiosity overcame her as she opened one of the boxes. She nearly jumped for joy seeing what was in it.

_This must have been the evidence box he stole from the cops!_ She thought to herself as she looked inside it.

How thankful she was that he stole it. Inside were many articles of clothing of hers that the cops had confiscated from the Joker's old hideout. They also had her shoes! The amounts of her clothing filled to the brim of the box with her clothes and underwear. Along with that was some red and black makeup she had used a while back as makeup for her Candy outfit. She figured the candy outfit had been originally in this box as well.

Nichole threw an outfit together, switched her set of underwear with nice clean ones, and put on a pair of black sweat pants and a white laced tank-top. She sighed seeing that all the clothing in the box was more suited for summer attire rather than winter. Her arms and shoulders remained cold, but she was just going to grin and bear it. She'd rather have clothing than none at all. She also put on a pair of shoes and socks to warm up her cold feet.

With clothing on, she decided to peer into the other box in the closet, wondering if a sweatshirt of hers was in there (as she did remember she had had a sweatshirt at the Joker's place the first time she was captured by him). She opened it with a slight smile of anticipation, but it quickly left her face as she saw what was inside the box.

A look of horror was now plastered over her face.

It was a box full of pictures. Not just any old pictures, but pictures of her. That may not have frightened her if they had been pictures of her here at the Joker's place, but they were all different. They were pictures taken of her during the six months of her freedom and new life in Lakeview. Some were of her getting out of her car at the school parking lot, going grocery shopping, and others were taken of her in her house through her windows (as she could see the reflection of the glass window in the pictures). There were even a few pictures of her and Gordon eating together and laughing.

She flipped through the many pictures noticing that some had writing on them, which she quickly recognized to be of the Joker's. He had written little comments on the pictures, based on what was in it.

For example on one of them that was a picture of her in her kitchen baking something on the stove, he had written and circled her "I want to bake that.". On the back of the pictures, sometimes comments were written and addressed to the person taking the pictures. Many said the same thing "Jasper....get closer to her. I can't see a thing in these pictures. Are you working for me or not?"

It clicked in her mind. While in Arkham, the Joker must have hired one of his henchmen to follow and take pictures of her and then while he sat in his cell he'd be looking at her, writing comments to his henchmen on what he wants to see next.

It was an uneasy feeling to know that someone had been stalking her while she thought she was free. And that the Joker had stared at pictures of her while in his cell made her feel sick to her stomach. Sure they were not risqué photos and inappropriate, but it still has not a pleasant feeling.

"He was always watching me..." She muttered aloud in disbelief. She shocked herself by not being mad by this act, but more or less sketched out. It was creepy.

_Again… At least they were not naked pictures._

She wanted to distract her mind yet again from the feeling of uneasiness. She stood up and went into the bathroom and relieved herself. She grabbed a toothbrush that she had used before (making sure to steer clear of the Joker's toothbrush) and brushed her teeth, picking up her brushing speed vigorously as she thought about last night. Once her gums started to bleed, she stopped and rubbed her fingers over her teeth wincing.

"Damn...." She ran her tongue over her teeth, smearing the small amounts of blood on her tongue. The taste of copper filled her taste buds. It was at that moment she realized she was hungry. She had to go get some breakfast.

She quickly grabbed the brush in the sink and attacked the tangles in her hair.

Back in the Joker's room she hesitantly leaned her head on the bedroom door. She heard no sounds at all. She nervously opened the door and peered out into the long hallway of the third floor. Getting no signs of anyone up on the floor with her, she confidently walked to the top of the stairs. Again she listened downstairs and heard no sounds at all. If she had heard sounds, she would doubt she would be able to go down the stairs as easily and as calmly as she was currently. She made her way to the first floor and smiled seeing no one was around.

Relief washed through her; she wouldn't have to face the Joker yet. It would be most embarrassing to see him. All other times upon seeing him she felt anger and fear of more pain being inflicted upon her, but she knew this time she would be feeling embarrassment and awkward feelings. She hated it. She hated him.

But deep down, she knew that she, herself, had felt the pleasure that he had given her.

That upset her the most.

She walked into the kitchen and searched around, hunting for food. She poured herself a bowl of cereal and grabbed a spoon. Of course she washed furiously the bowel and spoon before using it. She didn't know the Joker to be a person to wash his dishes and didn't feel like getting salmonella thank you very much.

She felt the urge to eat on the comfort of the sofa in the living room area and not the wooden chairs that looked like they would break if anyone dared to sit in them. She glanced at one of the wooden chairs and was able to recognize it to be the one she attacked the Joker in, as it was cracked and tilted to the side a bit. She smiled thinking of how she got a few good punches at him around that time, but then the thought of him beating her with his belt sunk into her mind. She winced and felt a tear roll out of her eye from the memory of the intense pain and stinging bites the metal gave her.

Once she got in the living room area she nearly dropped the bowel she was carrying when she saw that someone was sitting on the couch. She let out a loud gasp and after her heart started to beat again she realized it was not the Joker seated on the couch, but one of his henchmen.

She was able to take in his appearance and was honestly shocked at his look. Most henchmen of the Joker were strong built and muscular, but this man who looked to be in his late twenties was rather skinny and lanky. Nichole guessed that he was Puerto Rican.

He had jet black hair done into a frohawk and had light chocolate brown skin. He had on black square designer glasses and a small lip piercing on the right side of his bottom lip and a piercing in his left eyebrow. He looked like a rock groupie, rather than one of the Joker's goon. Nichole saw that his entire outfit seemed to be all Versace and he had a pure golden buckle on his leather belt that had 'PRADA' engraved in it.

His eyes met Nichole's and he raised an eyebrow and then began to laugh to himself as he returned to what he was doing, which was sewing some sort of black material.

"So _you're _the screamer from last night." He said while shaking his head with a smirk on his face.

Nichole was shocked that his voice was slightly high pitched.

It didn't hit Nichole what he was saying. She was still in so much shock she didn't see him upon coming down the stairs. "W-...What?" She asked confused.

"Damn girl!" He put the black material on the coffee table in front of him and leaned back on the couch and placed his hands on his knees. He looked over at her with a large white-toothed smile.

"I'm surprised you still got your voice and are able to talk to me! Because let me tell ya girl your screaming was so loud last night...I mean damn! You have quite the set of lungs on you!" He said, the laughter could not be contained. "You guys should invest in sound proof walls or something!"

_Oh god no...._

Nichole's face instantly turned red as she realized what he was saying. All of the henchmen last night could hear her moans and screams from last night's ordeal with the Joker.

_Of course!_ She thought, _The Joker said that his goons sleep on the second floor!_

Her head felt light as she pictured all of the Joker's goons downstairs sitting around or laying in their beds and hearing her and the Joker moans and screams. She pictured the person whose room was under the Joker's room. The floor would be rattling and that person would hear it the best. She wondered if they all went into that room just to hear it. The filthy pigs.

She felt the blood in her cheek grow closer to the surface of her skin and she bit her lower lip. Her hold on her cereal bowl tightened. Her stomach was in a tight knot. The embarrassment. How this embarrassment will feel compared to the embarrassment she will feel when she sees the Joker today.

She didn't want to think about that.

"Oh...I...Uh...." Nichole began. Her words were stuttering.

"Is the Joker really that good in bed?" The man asked. He had returned to his sewing as Nichole was in her silent realization. "I always figured that he'd be a crazy fuck in bed but not **THAT** crazy! You're screams overpowered the TV last night man!" He stopped sewing and looked up at her, finally seeing how embarrassed she was.

She stood there, feeling the urge to cry.

"Oh...damn I am sorry. Didn't mean to embarrass ya, girl. I thought you enjoyed the-.." He stopped himself, seeing that what he was saying would not help or comfort her.

He let out a puff of air, silently looking her up and down. "You can sit down ya know. I ain't gonna bite ya." He nodded to the empty space on the couch near him.

Nichole hesitantly sat down on the far side of the couch from him. She swirled her spoon in her bowel of food, feeling awkward.

"Hey." The man said. "Look I am sorry I didn't mean to make you on the verge of tears. My name is Jasper." He reached out his hand as if to shake her hand, but brought it back down when she saw that she was too upset.

"So you're Nichole." He continued. "You, my chicka, have made a name of yourself around here. Most of the men here haven't even met ya personally but that's cause they know to stay away from you. They think any chick that is doing it with the Joker is fucked the hell up and not to be touched or even stared at by any of us. We don't want the Joker on our ass. The only reason I get ta stay around while he's not here and you are is cause he knows I don't swing that way and wouldn't look at you in that way." He chuckled to himself. "My point is it's just funny cause you don't look fucked up or as crazy as him. How did you end up with him?"

Nichole's nerves calmed down at this. She remembered a while back when one of the Joker's henchmen tried to touch her and the Joker narrowly saved her from him. Ever since then she hadn't trusted a single one of them. Jasper admitting he was into guys, shoo'd those thoughts away and allowed her jumpy state of mind to cease; though she still held doubt. She couldn't help it.

"He kidnapped me a long time ago…We… my friend and I, were at a party. He randomly picked me and used me as a human shield. Then he...kept me. At one point he made me create Candy, as I am sure you have heard. I was able to escape about a month into it but obviously...he got me back after six months of my freedom. I was just upstairs and found a box of pictures, pictures he had taken of me while I was free for those six months!" She didn't mean to say that all, but she was so freaked out by that; she had the urge to vent her out her creeped-out state of mind.

Jasper grinned. "Yeah I know." He looked down at what he was sewing. Nichole was able to see that it was a pair of pants.

"If you knew...why did you ask me?" Nichole said irritated.

He shrugged, continuing to work with his fingers. "No no...I meant yeah I know he had a box of pictures. I took 'em. He hired me while he was in Arkham to do it. I was one of his few visitors there and I'd always have to show up with ten pictures each week of you. I had worked for him already by that time. I had actually worked for him long before you were around." He stated. "I was glad that I was finally able to but my good Nikon D80 for good use! I told the boss that it wasn't a waste of money!" He chuckled.

Nichole's mouth went agape. "YOU took those pictures?" She sounded completely disgusted.

Jasper realized this conversation was turning bad. "Yeah. Sorry." he mumbled. He looked back down at his stitching. "It was my job, I had to do it. But look I made sure I never took perverted pictures. Even if he were to ask me to take them, I would have made an excuse that I couldn't due to obstructed view or some shit like that." He looked up at her. "Great now you think I am a creeper. Look I am sorry about that too, but a job's a job and I don't want the Joker on MY ass for not doing it." He joked.

She took a spoonful of food and sighed. "I understand...but why did he want those pictures?"

Jasper shrugged. "Maybe to see if you were okay or still alive. I admit I was wondering the same thing. Of course he made me take pictures of other things too. Like Batman and Comiss. Gordon… or whatever that hunk's name was." He sighed.

"Oh well that makes me feel better that he wasn't **just** taking pictures of me." She muttered without thinking.

Jasper started laughing loudly clearly amused. "So…I take it you hate his guts?"

"That is an understatement." She took another spoon of cereal.

"Well...You like his pad better than Arkham." Jasper smirked.

Nichole was not expecting him to state that.

"Am I right girl? Cause I know I am. He is better to you than Arkham. So that's the start of your hate for him diminishing." He grabbed his extra needle on the coffee table and stuck some thread in it.

Nichole was, needless to say, shocked.

"Please tell me you are joking." Nichole said blankly.

"Que? What! I was just saaaaaaying" he wiggled his eyesbrows, "Ustedes serian una paraja muy linda! A very cute one indeed! Well once you and him solve your little issues. Candy being one of them. Aye aye aye!" He laughed again.

"Okay one: Him and I will never be a formal couple. I hate him and he knows it. I will always hate him. Do you realize how much shit he has done to me? He killed my best friend and my students…I don't even want to go into details because it still hurts me just to think about it! How the hell do you know about Candy anyways?" Nichole swirled her spoon around a little more before eating another mouthful.

"Hey hey hey calm down! Don't need to bring up the past Nikkister." She tried to hide the smile forming at the new nickname he gave her. "Ya gotta learn to forgive and forget the past. Or at least not think about it all the time when ya look at him. You gotta look forward into the future or hell! Just look at the present. The matter at hand ha ha. Anyway the Joker told me about Candy. Unlike the other henchmen I get to stay for a long time, maybe even forever or at least until he's caught- OH SHIT! Don't tell him I said that." He panicked for a moment. "But he told me about Candy." He nodded.

"Why do you get to stay around longer than everyone else?" Nichole asked, determined to steer the conversation away from Jasper saying she should go with the Joker.

Jasper pointed to what he was sewing. "Cause I got the skills man. I am like what one would call a secretary. I am the Joker's tailor and also do odd jobs for him. I follow people, take pictures, scope out places and buy the food for the hideout we are in and pay the rent."

"Oh..." Was all Nichole said.

By this time she was finished with her bowl of cereal and was growing thirsty. She sat up, placing the bowel on the coffee table (planning on cleaning it up later of course) and returned to the kitchen where she grabbed a glass and filled it with simple tap water.

"Hey Nikkister! Puta! Grab me a beer!" Jasper called.

Nichole rolled her eyes smirking, and went into the fridge pulling out a beer. She returned to the living and tossed him the beer.

He caught it with ease and pulled the cap off. "Thanks. I need to start to have some beer in the morning so tonight I can have beer as well. I find if I drink all through out the day, towards the end of the day when I drink more heavily I don't ever feel sick and can hold my liquor."

"Party tonight?" She asked, taking a small sip of her water. She didn't know why she was still talking to Jasper. The simple act of being able to talk to someone besides the Joker and have a sane normal conversation with them made her feel a small amount of joy. She didn't want to spend the rest of her life just talking to that monster. Besides, whenever she talked to him the conversation would not only be fucked the hell up, but she would not enjoy it due to her jumpy state of mind awaiting his next move.

Nichole felt like she could trust Jasper, not just because of the fact he admitted he was gay and her fear of being raped by one of the Joker's goons still existed, but because of the way he acted around her. He didn't look at her and think she was a piece of trash like the rest of the world thought. And along with that the way he addressed the issue with Candy suggested he believed her. That would make only three people in the world that she knew of that believed her. The Joker. Gordon. And now Jasper.

"Well tonight we all are gonna play poker!" Jasper said excitedly. "Drinks and cigarettes all around! It's one of the few things we all do together."

"Is...The Joker gonna play poker with you guys?" Nichole asked. She prayed he was, because if he did it would mean he would be around her for a less amount of time.

Jasper sighed as he leaned his head back on the couch. "Yeah...Which means we all gonna lose. He will curb stomp our asses to the ground man!"

Nichole chuckled. She liked the way he spoke. "Um...Speaking of the Joker....where is he?"

Jasper tried to hide his laugh. "What you wanna know where your man is at?"

Nichole sent a glare in his direction. "Yeah that's right I wanna know where my 'man' is. When he's not around I just feel so upset and want him back." She said in a very sarcastic tone of voice. "Can you please stop saying stuff like that? It's really starting to irritate me. I hate the Joker and that is all there is to it."

"Okay okay I'll stop for now. Jeez." He sucked on his lip ring for a moment as he reached for the clicker to the TV. "Well he's out all day on business heh. Said for me to check the news today at noon if I wanna see what he is doing. He wants you to see it too, but he told me if you weren't up to not wake you cause you had a long night last night..." He then muttered to himself. "Very long...."

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." Nichole sighed. She knew he was just messing around, but her nerves about seeing the Joker today when he returned made his words sting. She then thought about what he said.

_At least he won't be here until-.... _She thought to herself.

"So when IS he coming back here..." Nichole really wanted to know, so she could brace herself for it.

"You're nervous I can tell...heh calm down." He took the bottle of beer and offered it to her. "He's not coming back till like five or six. You got time to be safe."

Nichole smiled sinking back into the couch, taking the beer and sipping it. She didn't care that his saliva was on it. Beer was something she did need at the moment. As the cold liquid ran down her throat she felt her body shutter. It was so much better than the water. She took one more gulp and returned it to Jasper, not wanting to drink all his beer up. "Thanks..." She muttered.

"No problem....by the look on your face, it looked like you needed it more than I do." Jasper grinned, taking a sip of the beer before placing it back on the table. He quickly got up, strolled into the kitchen and grabbed another beer from the fridge. He handed it to Nichole, which Nichole took, very thankfully. He returned to stitching up the pair of pants.

She opened her beer and took a large gulp.

She stared at the TV with her head leaning back on the soft backboard of the couch. Jasper flicked through a few stations until he came across a reality TV show and began to watch it. Nichole didn't care what was on at all. She hadn't watched TV in so long and it was something she could watch to get her mind off of five o'clock (or six o'clock) when the monster would return to the house. She didn't want to think about the feelings inside her. The nerves that would slowly build up as the clock would tick on closer and closer to the time of hell.

And they did.

Every minute felt long. Nichole tried to focus on the two women on the television fighting in the bar. She tried to get her mind off of the Joker, but it was not working. She just kept thinking about what he would say to her or how he would look at her when he returned to the warehouse. The smug grin that would be placed on his face as he remembered last night.

About an hour passed and almost no words were spoken between the two. Both of them remained quiet as they watched the television screen; Nichole permitting herself to glance at the clock every time a commercial break happened.

The contents in Nichole's beer were empty by the time noon rolled around and Jasper flicked the channel to a news station just in time to see the beginning of a "Breaking News" bulletin appear. Jasper was done working on his pants and sprawled on the couch watching the television.

"_Hello Gotham City. Breaking news. We have just received video feed from the mastermind criminal the Joker. We do not know what is on the tape, so pleased be warned it is most likely graphic and inappropriate for younger audiences." The female news anchor stated with solemn eyes._

Nichole leaned forward in her seat, staring intently at the screen. Jasper looked up from his stitch and looked as well.

_The screen went fuzzy for a moment before flicking to a tied up Dr. Lyn and Dr. Taylor. They were both tied to the chair by the waist, legs, and arms (behind their backs). Gags were in their mouths and Dr. Lyn was screaming. She had a bloody nose._

Nichole gasped. The two doctors that had ordered for her to be starved and looked the other way while they allowed the inmates to beat her up in Arkham were now before her eyes in the Joker's clutches. She could not denied the slight joy she had inside to see those two meeting a thing she'd like to call "Payback", but still winced seeing the blood running down both of them.

_The Joker licking his lips was heard off screen. He was holding the camera and it was slightly shaky. "So doctors, would you like to explain why you are here? Or do you want me too?" He started to laugh._

_Dr. Lyn squirmed in her seat screaming. Her fearful eyes were locked with the Joker's. Her muffled words could not be made out._

"_It seems the doctors are not able to speak at the moment." The camera turned so the Joker's face was on screen. "Do you want to know what these two did?" He giggled with delight. "Well you see these two were the head doctors at Arkham when my little Nichole, or should I say Candy, was placed into the asylum." He lowered his head and narrowed his eyes. "Arkham is supposed to be a place to help the insane and those with big issues. The doctors there are suppose to treat the victims entered there and treat them all equally. They are supposed to be formal and well mannered around them.....That IS what we are paying for them to do with our tax money Gotham....right?"He made a clicking noise with his tongue._

"_Well then it may come as a shock to you, as to what these two doctors ordered to happen to Nichole when she went to Arkham." The camera returned to look at the two frightened doctors. The Joker walked up to the two of them and forcefully snatched the gags from their mouths. He was still holding the camera with his other hand._

_Dr. Lyn screamed as his gloved hand ripped it from her mouth and Dr. Taylor's breath hitched._

_Blood was coated over Dr. Lyn's teeth as she hissed in pain, squeezing her eyes shut._

"_Tell them what you did to her." The Joker stated, panning to the two doctors. _

_After they did not respond his voice boomed "TELL THEM WHAT YOU DID!!", causing the doctors to jump in fear in their seats_.

Nichole and Jasper jumped in their seats as well.

"_W-we ordered for her to b-b-be starved and b-b-beaten by other inmates. W-We d-d-didn't t-treat her like a p-p...Person...m-more like an...Animal." Dr. Taylor spoke shakily. He shook in his seat as the Joker placed a gloved hand on his face._

"_Yeah...that is what you two did. You were going to let her die, when you really were suppose to be helping her." Dr. Taylor shut his eyes whimpering. The Joker pulled harshly on the skin of the doctor's cheek, leaving bright red marks. _

"_Oh shh...shh no need to be afraid doctor." The Joker faked caring. "But really it should not be YOU that is scared, but rather the people of Gotham."_

_The Joker panned the camera back to his face. "Who is to say that they haven't done this to other inmates? Who is to say that Nichole was not their only victim? Just how corrupt IS Gotham? And it's 'helpful' institutions...?" His mouth curved to the side. "I mean look at these pictures and tell me this isn't crazy."_

_He walked over to a table and let the camera pan over a couple of pictures. The pictures were of Nichole laying down in bed with the wounds she received in Arkham wearing nothing but her bra and underwear._

Nichole gasped in utter shock. She figured he took them while she was out of it one night. The fact this video was clearly about her and he was showing pictures of her tattered and sore body was very...disturbing to her. The world would now know Nichole to be owned by the Joker, if they hadn't already known.

"_See all those bruises and how her skin is the color of the sky? These two doctors ordered for this to happen. How do we know that Nichole was the only person receiving this abuse? Your uh...loved ones might be enduring this abuse and you not even know it! And what is worse is you as a citizen are paying for these doctors with your taxes! Your money went into their corrupt hands... I'll let you be the judge of this." The screen went back to the doctors._

"_But for now...I think I'll give the doctors a taste of their own medicine." The Joker then began to laugh insanely as he advanced on the two, dropping the camera in the process. It fell at an angle that one could not see anything but a nearby wall. A shadow was cast on it of the Joker pulling out a knife and raising it in the air plunging it into Dr. Lyn. Her screams echoed as the blood splattered on the wall and smeared on the camera lense._

_The video immediately cut as the news casters pulled the plug on the video, not wanting to show the two doctors being killed._

"_And...that was...our um." The female newscaster cleared her throat. "That was our breaking news...." She was absolutely shaken. "We have a reporter at the Gotham MCU with Commissioner Gordon here to comment on this story."_

_The screen flashed to Gordon. His face was red with anger. "This is very shocking to us all to see how Arkham treated Nichole and we have all our units heading over there as we speak to investigate the place fully and all the inmates. As for the Joker we don't know where the hell he is, but we are still very furious at this situation."_

"_Where is Nichole currently!?" One reporter screamed off screen._

_Gordon's angered eyes turned sad. "She is captured by the Joker...alive I hope...But we don't know her exact whereabouts. But we are searching. No more questions." Gordon walked into the MCU, having reporters screaming after him for answers._

Nichole watched Gordon on the television and felt instant pain in her heart. The pain in his eyes broke her heart. She longed to see him again. He was like a caring father to her and he believed her about Candy. He actually cared about her when everyone else wanted to place her on death row.

"Well daaaaaaaamn." Jasper stated, turning to channel back to the reality TV show. "That was so creepy. Did those doctors really do that to you-" Jasper stopped and looked at Nichole.

She was leaning back in her seat, staring at her lap frowning. Her mind buzzing. The Joker had just killed the doctors for revenge. Revenge for the way they treated her in Arkham. Right before her eyes she heard the screams and last words of those horrible doctors. Part of her stomach felt a sort of relief by knowing they were dead. But the other half of her stomach felt the pain of being Gordon deprived.

"Hey....You okay?" Jasper asked, pulling out a blunt and lighting it.

"I don't know..." Nichole said in all honestly. "And yes....those doctors really did mistreat me." She looked up at him as took a puff.

"I am sorry....Well at least they are taken care of now… And I admit; I am very thankful that they had the courtesy to show Mr. Sexy on the screen…" He tried to lighten the mood, by reffering to his attraction to Gordon.

He let out a small smile and offered the blunt to her.

"Oh...Um...No thank you. I quit after college." She said, putting a hand up.

Nichole had been a slight party animal in college if she did admit so herself. After college she swore she would never party "hardcore" again. But the reason the party a long time ago (the one where the Joker first took her) was one she did not like, was due to the fact it was a formal setting. She preferred the parties that were laid back and the talk of them were anything but politics. Formal parties always were about politics.

"Oh come on! It will help you relax! And the Joker isn't coming home any time soon. He'll never know!" Jasper offered her it again.

"Well...." Nichole eyed the blunt up and down. "It's tempting...."

"Come on when is the last time you had one? Honestly." Jasper asked, raising an eyebrow with a grin on his face.

"Like...Three years ago? I don't really remember. After college I wanted to be clean and off the stuff for good."

He hung his mouth open. "Three years?! Jeez...How did you survive?! It's just one little smoke, come on… No big deal."

"Does the Joker...Um...Do this?" She finally reached forward and grabbed the blunt, staring at it intently.

"Nawh man he don't. He smokes normal cigarettes. I'm surprised he don't do this shit though. He strikes me as the type of guy that would do loads of drugs, but he is clean in all honesty. He doesn't even take meds or anything! I mean he is loco, for the fact he dresses up as a clown, but his ideas are very powerful and I stand by him for it."

"I think his ideas are monstrous." Nichole said in a matter-of-fact tone. "And saying he is crazy is an understatement yet again."

"Look Nichole...I'd be happy if you didn't tell him I called him crazy just now. Yanno...Don't want him chopping my throat up." Jasper laughed.

"I won't. I promise. You can trust me … I won't tell him. I don't even ever want to talk to him." Nichole sighed.

"You just gotta learn what you can say and what you can't say around him. That's all. Took me a month to figure out what ticked him off." Jasper cracked his neck.

"I know what ticks him off....But I say it anyways." Nichole stated flatly. "Sure he beats me for it....but I want to keep whatever sanity I have left close to me. And I am more human on the inside when I fight him off. Because...If I give in...It's as if I am Candy letting him take me. And it makes it easy for her to play with my emotions." She stopped herself. "Sorry...I must be making no sense to you at all."

Jasper batted a hand in the air to show it didn't matter. "Don't sweat it. But you should really avoid ticking him off. Bruises don't fit your complexsion. I can already tell."

She stiffed a laugh. "Does he....hurt you?" She asked curiously. "Sorry...If i sound rude." She quickly added.

"Well...He does rough everyone up if they don't listen to him. Well actually all his other men he normally kills off within a month. Some who are very loyal and good to him he doesn't kill. You don't know how many new faces each week I see around here and then don't see after a while. He just kills them. I am so thankful, that my job for him is towards the top of the totem pole. He ain't gonna kill me unless I suddenly lose my skills to tailor and shit." He laughed.

He nodded towards the blunt in her hand. "Well you gonna keep it in your hand all day or you gonna smoke it? Come on! It will help with your nerves. You look like you need it."

Nichole looked down at the blunt and made a decision. She was going to give in and smoke it.

She needed to feel relaxed in her almost always tense state of mind.

As she put the blunt to her lips she briefly remembered the first time her and Tom decided to smoke weed together for the first time after a frat party in the woods.

__

_"Tom.." She slurred in her drunken stupor," you sure about this?" Nichole asked, glancing at a couple of men that ran by her and Tom, attacking each other with sticks. They were drunk out of their minds._

_"I am so sure! Come on Nichole! It will be fun." Tom grinned, as he received the blunt from his and Nichole's friend Ben seated next to them. _

_"Kay...Now since you two fellow classmates and my personal friends are partaking in your first ever smoking of the godlike substance of marijuana, I personally like to call the greatest gift known to man-.." Ben started to say. Nichole rolled her eyes. Ben liked to be over dramatic and sound as if he was a businessman all the time. "You two need to know that...Most likely you are going to go straight into a coughing fit on your first puff. This is not like smoking cigarettes you two. It's a skill. Are you ready to try?" Ben smirked._

_Tom wrapped one arm around Nichole's shoulder. They were all seated around a firepit, which was their only source of light. It caused an orange and red glow to appear and dance on their faces. "You think if I just smoke this he will shut up?" Tom whispered, as Ben began to talk again; this time about the texture and aura of weed itself._

_Nichole grinned up at him resting on his side. "Worth a shot."_

_"Hey! Would you two love birds shut up for a minute? I'm trying to explain the importance of the creation of weed has on mankind!" Ben grinned._

_Nichole was happy the firelight could hide the blush on her face. Ben was always the one joking out loud in front of Tom and Nichole that they were meant to be together. At least most of Nichole's friends would joke about it, not in front of Tom, but with Nichole in private. Ben had the guts or the brainless and not caring attitude to speak and say his jokes about it out loud._

_Tom rolled his eyes. "You're such a joker Ben."_

The word "Joker" in her memory took her away from it.

She shook herself from that memory as she sucked in a large hit from the blunt. She leaned back on the couch, sucking in fresh air as she held the smoke in her lungs. After a few seconds, she breathed the smoke out, calmly, not wanting to go into a coughing fit. Oh how she missed that familiar sinful taste…

It was now of all times she needed this relaxing sin.

Health concerns were in the past. She did not care if she lived or died right now. If weed were to make her death come faster, so be it. Hell, maybe even the Joker would come home early and see her smoking and then grow mad and kill her. She didn't know. But all she did know was she really did not care about the quality of her life anymore.

The Joker had taken away the quality of her life. Candy had taken away the quality of her life.

Her life in her opinion was useless and felt more like a ticking time bomb, waiting to be set off and die, rather than a living breathing organism. An object that was being toyed with by a monster and a crazy Joker loving other personality that wanted to have control.

She handed the blunt back to Jasper.

"Yeah but...It was the Joker taking my revenge. Not me...That's why I feel unsettled a bit...It's like I want to decide their fate and take action. Not let someone else. I mean I am happy they are taken care of, as mean as that sounds...but...I don't know. Now I sound like him." She pointed at the television screen, implying the Joker. "I sound like a killer."

"No no...I know what you are feeling and you don't sound insane at all. I know what revenge feels like." He took another hit. "It's a powerful feeling." He said in a high voice as he was holding the smoke in his lungs.

"How do you know what it feels like?" Nichole asked as she took the blunt he passed back to her. "Sorry...I sound nosy." She frowned. "Never mind."

"No no." Jasper gave Nichole a slight smile as she took her second hit. "I don't care honestly. It's a story known to many, so what's one more to it? Well...it started before I worked for the Joker. I was with the love of my life. His name was Derek… We were together for four years…" he smiled, "Him and I were even gonna get married... We were gonna take a train up to Canada and spend our honeymoon in Montreal" He chuckled staring off blankly at the wall by the TV, reminiscing the past.

"Unfortunately one day...Derek...He got.... He got beaten to death...by a person who believed that it was wrong for two men to get married and be in love." His face went deadpan. "I was heartbroken… The fucker who killed him even sent me a video of it!" Jasper broke out into tears as he slammed his fist in the couch. "And to make things worse the man that killed him was let off and pleaded not guilty. I wanted revenge and sought out the man who killed Derek. I found him and nearly...I nearly killed him."

He tightened his fist on his pant leg. "But the damn cops showed up...They arrested me and sent me to prison for two years. After the first year they claimed I was insane and sent me to Arkham. When the Scarecrow let loose all the people of Arkham I was one of the many to escape and not get recaptured by cops. But....i felt such anger. That the man who killed Derek could walk free on the streets and yet I was arrested for attacking him. I turned my back on society....and that's how I ended up with the Joker. I agreed with the things he said; the way he viewed the world. He was showing the rest of us how evil the world was....Since I was not good on the physical level; he made me his tailor and errand runner."

He turned to Nichole and sighed. "Sorry about my rambling. The point is...I know how you feel. And it's not a fun feeling. It...It eats up your insides. But eventually you will be able to dull it and soon forget it..."

"I am sorry..." Nichole placed a hand on his shoulder as a comforting gesture.

Jasper patted her hand smiling. "Thanks...but that is the past. I don't look to the past any more. I just look to right now. The present." Nichole smiled at him and she took her hand off of him returning it to her lap. She then scooted to him and passed him the blunt. He smiled thankfully as he took another long hit.

At that moment, she felt like she could completely trust Jasper. She felt like he was someone she could talk to and he would understand what she was feeling.

After about an hour of venting to one another, watching TV, and smoking two j's, Nichole and Jasper grew sick and tired of the television and just sat there laughing at stupid soap operas.

Still a thought remained in the back of Nichole's mind. The arrival of the Joker, which would be in a few hours.

"Ha ha ha Jasper! It's such a shame that your glasses don't hide how red your eyes are!" She giggled, pointing a shaking finger at him.

Jasper laughed and reached under the couch pulling out a hand held mirror.

"Holy fuck!" He gasped at himself, "My eyes are as red as the devil's dick!"

The two of them were practically rolling on the couch in their laughter.

Nichole couldn't remember the last time she smiled so much that her face hurt. She felt that she made a good decision in smoking; it had been a while since she had been happy.

Nichole leaned her head back, swaying it in circles. She almost forgot what being high felt like, she loved this feeling. Everything was so carefree and all her troubles seemed to fade away.

If you really think about it, it's rather depressing that only times she felt happy while she was at the Joker's hideout were the only times when she was…well…"out of it." Hence her hallucination of Tom in the Joker's bed and now her being high with Jasper.

But Jasper changed that scenario; she was already slightly happy to be with him when she was first sober.

"Hey Nichole?" Jasper asked after recovering from his fits of laughter. He looked at Nichole with pink, high dazed eyes. "So is the kitchen, the living room, and the bedroom the only rooms you have seen so far in this shit house?"

Nichole thought for a moment. "Actually…" She gasped and giggled. It felt like her tongue was fluttering freely in her mouth. "Yes… and that's probably a good thing."

"Why is that?" Jasper said as he got up off the couch and stumbled into the kitchen and got out two more beers.

Nichole thanked him when he plopped back down on the couch and handed her a beer.

"Well," She said as she took a gulp, "I was already creeped out by what I found today in his room and lord knows what he has around in the warehouse."

Jasper shook his head in agreement. "Yeah," he sighed as he sprawled on the couch and leaned back on the armchair. He tested a hand behind his head and stretched his legs across the couch and rested them on Nichole's lap. "There is some pretty fucked up shit around this damn building. Sexual torture devices, whips… the rest of the goons have a wall with all naked pictures of you on it."

Nichole's head shot up, "WHAT?!" She screeched. Her eyes widened in absolute terror and disgust.

A stupid grin appeared on Jasper's face. "Got you," He said as he pointed to her with his bottle of beer and burst out in chuckles. "But not about the sexual torture devices though!"

"Oh my gosh…" Nichole slumped forward and rested her elbows on Jasper's legs and cradled her face in her hands. "You have no idea how scared I was…"

He continued to chuckle and said "You need another drink, girl."

She leaned back on the couch as she took a swig of her beer. "Nah… What I need right now is food," She groaned. "Too bad there is no damn decent munchies food in this shithole… or edible at least."

Jasper gasped, "Shoot!" He said as he smacked his palm on his forehead. "I didn't tell ya! I'm also the chief in this joint!"

Nichole sat up in shock, almost choking on her mouthful of beer.

"Nuh uh!" She said as she wiped her mouth, "Are you really?"

"Yes!" he nodded, his smile never fading. "Even before I started working for your hombre, I've always had a huge passion for cooking… well besides fashion and clothing that is."

"That is so strange…" Nichole said before she took another gulp of her beer. "Because I have not had a decent meal in the past week I have been here…"

The look on Jasper's face after she said that gave her the impression as if he had never been this insulted in his life.

"Oh my Dios! You poor thing! Why didn't you tell me?!" He swerved his legs off of hers as he sprung off the couch. He reached down at her with his free hand. "Come on!" he said.

Nichole laughed as he pulled her up and led her into the kitchen.

The windows and doorways seemed to buzz right by them as they floated. Nichole always felt weightless when she was high.

He dropped Nichole's hand before he dove it into one of the many pockets of his Calvin Klein pants. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door that was to the right of the fridge.

"Joda!" Jasper exclaimed when he accidently pulled the door open so hard that it smacked him in the face.

Nichole giggled as he rubbed his head and readjusted his glasses.

He shook his head and muttered a few phrases of Spanish under his breath.

He opened the door fully and went inside as Nichole followed behind him. He flicked the lights on to his left.

Once the room was lightened Nichole's eyes felt like they burst into the size of gulf balls.

Inside this… this _heavenly_ room was a full culinary are. There were large freezers and refrigerators with see through sliding doors aliened on the wall to the left. They looked as if they couldn't be stocked with any more food. To the right was a variety of ovens, burners, and sinks. And on the counter right in front of her was a huge table and more cabinets containing all different kinds of pots and pans and all the cooking utensils in the world. In the back of the room were a few doors which Nichole figured was used for storage.

"I'm sorry, Jasper…" Nichole blinked, "but was that shit you gave me laced by any chance?"

She remembered a few experiances she had in the past in college, when the stuff she smoked was laced with other drugs. It wasn't a fun experiance.

Jasper laughed as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I wish so, honey… I wish… Isn't this place amazing?!"

Nichole could only nod in her high dazed state of mind. The whole room appeared to be spinning in all the colors it contained.

Jasper chuckled as he led her to one of the storage rooms. "Sweetie," he said, "this isn't the best part yet."

He reached over with one arm and opened the door. This time, it felt like Nichole's jaw fell to the floor.

Boxes of food were everywhere. She guessed many had been stolen, since they had various company names on them and tags stated they were suppose to be shipped to other places.

"Hun… You and I will never go hungry!"

*****

"So." Jasper said after half an hour of almost binge eating. "Shall I show you the second floor?"

Nichole grinned, "As long as there are no naked pictures of me."

They both sat up and—after about thirty seconds of attempting to stand up that is—left the room of homely baked paradise.

Jasper was her guardian angel. He had supplied her food and a sinful relaxer.

_Why haven't I met you before today?_ Nichole thought to herself. She was so happy the Joker was not around for the most of the day and meeting Jasper right after last night's ordeal was just what she needed.

After climbing up the stairs, almost falling down them in laughter, Jasper showed her a few of the henchmen's rooms. Nichole freaked out at first when she saw that the wall, in the first room Jasper showed her was covered in pictures of naked women. Jasper giggled and led her in the room showing her that those pictures were not of Nichole at all, but cut outs from Playboy magazines.

"Pigs..." Nichole snorted as they left the room.

"Can you blame them? I mean most of these guys are so fucked up in the head they don't get any." Jasper said. "And those who do get it from strippers."

It dawned on Nichole...Jasper must be crazy in some hidden way deep inside of him. He couldn't act this way; the kind joking manner he was acting around her all the time. There had to be something messed up about him. Maybe anger that he hides deep inside him from his boyfriend's death. Sure he had tried to kill the man who murdered his boyfriend, but that was normal in Nichole's eyes. But Jasper could not simply act this nice all the time. Not if he worked for the Joker.

He must have some sort of crazy side.

But Nichole didn't want to believe that.

She wanted to finally believe that someone that works for the Joker is kind hearted.

Lastly, Jasper finally led Nichole to the doorway at the end of the hallway.

Jasper pulled out his keys and winked at Nichole. "Now this is the best room in the house." Nichole snickered as he unlocked the door.

Inside was a room, filled with lights hung up on the wall in shades of purple and orange. Nichole had to step inside to get a full three hundred and sixty degree look at Jasper's room.

On one wall, it was filled with the largest DvD collection she had ever seen in her life outside of a video store. She walked up and traced her finger on a stack of them, looking at the titles of the movies. Some she recognized, others she had never even heard of.

Another wall was lined with dozens of books. Some thick; others skinny and slim. On top of the book shelves was a display case showcasing intricate bongs he had. The funky colors memerised her. She looked around at the poster lined ceiling and walls and recognized a shirtless poster of David Beckham and a picture of Audrey Heppurn almost instantly. Other posters that took her a second to find in the clutter of magazine clothing and style cut outs, were of Shakira, Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Paris Hilton. The other cut outs were just of amazing designer clothing and logos. A laptop was placed on a desk that was next to the large book shelf. The laptop was so skinny, Nichole would be afraid if she even opened it, it would break into a million pieces.

He had a large mirror with a stool and table in front of it. On it was a ton of colognes and makeup kits. Some for acne, other eye liner kits. He had and extra set of pink lights wrapped around the mirror frame and a red and black scarf lining the table.

His bed had golden comforters and dozens of pillows that she had an urge to sink into.

A TV was placed so it was in clear view of the bed, so one could lay down and watch it, or pop in a DVD since a DVD player was placed on top of the TV. Also in one corner was a small arm chair, which looked rather comfortable as well.

She could not believe this room was in the same household as the Joker.

The whole room, smelled of weed and various cologne.

"Oh my gosh…" Nichole said as her eyes trailed up to the ceiling and examined the various cracks coming from the corners.

And to her horror, there was a large chunk of plaster from the ceiling that was on the floor, neatly swept up into a corner.

"Is that from last night?" Nichole regretfully asked.

Jasper burst out laughing, realizing what she was talking about. "Yes, that would be, ma'am. My room is directly under the Joker's."

She couldn't believe it.

Nichole slowly let out her breath, "How did you even manage to get your own room?"

Jasper chuckled as he shut the door. "Well, being a homo has its perks! The other guys were very uneasy about sharing a room with… well someone like myself. They was scared that I could pound their butthole's in the middle of the night! So in order to 'protect' themselves, they sent me here… And honestly, none of the other goons are even hot!.. well except for myself."

Nichole laughed as she moved to the desk holding his laptop. There were pictures and letters taped to the head board of the desk.

"Is that…." Nichole couldn't even finish it as she pointed to the picture of the two men sharing a sleeping bag, cuddling in each other's arms.

Jasper sighed, "Yes… That's my Derek."

Nichole examined the man in the photo. He was rather handsome, shaggy brown hair with bright blue eyes. He had a slight scruff of a baby beard on his face. His lip was pierced as well.

Nichole couldn't help but smile outwardly as she looked at the numerous pictures. One was of him looking sadly at the camera while Jasper took a picture of him shaving (Jasper's reflection was in the mirror), and another was of them standing atop a playground wearing sunglasses and posed like 'king of the world' on top of the slide.

Nichole's clouded mind buzzed of all the possible memories that the both of them had together while each picture was taken. She had to bite her lip to keep it from shaking. It broke Nichole's heart to think on the fact that Derek was dead, right before he and Jasper were going to start their lives together. Even though she had never met Derek in her life, her heart ached for him and tore at the fact that he was no longer amoung the living. From all the pictures, Jasper looked like he had never been happier in his life.

They both had true love. But it all died in the reel of the film taping Derek's last moments.

When Nichole looked up at Jasper, her heart tore for him. Even though his high dazed eyes were still pink, he still had tears streaming down his face.

"I really wish that I could have met him," Nichole said, reaching out and squeezing Jasper on the shoulder.

Jasper sighed and wiped his face, "So do I… You two would have gotten along real well."

He still stared at the pictures, transfixed. Nichole reached out and took him in her arms. Jasper held her tightly as he buried his face into her hear. She could hear him crying on her shoulder.

"I know what it's like to lose someone that you love..." She whispered to him, her voice now cracking at the memory of her mother and Tom. "I lost a person I loved...To the Joker. Tom. Him and I knew each other since high school....We went to the same college even. He was going to go somewhere different, but he decided to go to the same one as me cause he didn't want to be away from me. I was his closest friend. He told me he loved me.... I-I- loved him." She sniffled. "And the Joker took him from me....Not a day goes by that I don't miss him."

They stood like that for a while in each other's arms, letting their remorse fall into the form of tears. Nichole never knew how good it felt to cry with someone else.

Finally; someone who understood her feelings.

"Okay," Jasper said backing up. With tears in his eyes, he smiled. "Now why don't you say you and I both watch a cheerful movie to hold back on our tragic memories for now?"

Nichole smiled, "Sounds like a plan."

They ended up picking Pineapple Express since Jasper loved it and Nichole had never seen it before.

They sat on his bed as the movie played.

During the previews Jasper spoke up, "Do you wanna know why I started talking to you Nichole?" He asked.

"Because you wanted to put a face to the person that you heard screaming last night?" She joked. She shocked herself by her joke. It was amazing she could freely joke about the ordeal that happened last night to him now. She knew the drug in her system was working magic to her nerves so the feelings of embarrassment were not there at the moment.

He laughed. "No no no. Wanna know really why?"

"Yeah."

"Well cause.... Nichole, remember how I said many of the Joker's men here are short lived. They don't normally stay around for more than a month? Well because I know that and because I know that I get to live, or so I hope..heh. But since I know they are going to die, I don't get close to them. I mean I talk to them and am nice to them during poker games or parties, but I don't open myself up to them. I would not want to get close to a person, just to have them be killed by the Joker after getting to know them. I figured upon seeing and figuring out that you are in fact not the crazy whore I thought you were going to be....no offense, I wanted to talk to you and see what you were like. Cause I figure the Joker ain't gonna kill you anytime soon. Or at least I hope he doesn't. But I don't think he will...I mean he's kept you alive this long. But...Sorry that sounded wrong and rude, but my point is...." He stopped not really knowing how to get his point across in words that would not offend her.

Nichole spoke up. "I understand what you are trying to say. I feel like...I know you. I feel like you're a long lost friend that I am meeting back up with after a long time away. You understand how I feel Jasper. Not many people can even come close to understanding how I feel. Gordon can't....Tom couldn't. You come the closest. And I think its fate that I met you today. I mean like today today. On this very day at this very moment in my life."

Jasper smiled. "Why's that?"

"Because..... If I hadn't met you today I'd be upstairs all day thinking. I'd be in thought about last night and what happened. Nothing good ever comes from negative thoughts. I think...I'd go insane up there. I'd be thinking and Candy would most likely be altering my thinking and it would just not be good! I'd go crazy! Because all this time its felt like when I am with the Joker...I'm in a whole 'nother world. A world of darkness where the Joker is the only other person besides me. The surrounding world stops and all focus is on him. It revolves around him. If I had been upstairs all day....That would be the world I would be in. But when i met you...When i talked to you.... I was taken away from his world. I was able to come back to reality for the time being. I think its fate."

"Then, that's what we will call it. Fate." Jasper agreed scooting to the front of his bed and leaning on his head board, as he let his feet lay on the bed.

In the middle of the movie, Jasper's phone rang, causing Nichole to jump slightly as his ring tone blared. She recognized the song to be "Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake. Nichole burst out into hysterical fits of laugher, rolling back on his bed and to the floor. Jasper sent a playful glare at her as he turned off the movie with the remote and answered his phone.

"Yo." Jasper said to the phone.

Nichole had to put her hands to her mouth to muffle her fits of hysterics.

He listened for a moment. "Oh okay." He looked at Nichole and mouthed "It's him" to her.

Nichole froze in her stage of laughter.

_OH MY GOSH OH MY GOSH!_ Her mind started panicking _is he almost here?! Has he been spying on us?! What is he telling Jasper??!!!_

Pause.

"Yeah I saw the news at noon." Nichole kneeled on the ground and placed her hands on his bed to silently push her upper body towards Jasper and lean in attempt to hear what the Joker on the other end was saying. She glanced at the clock and instant panic went through her as she saw the time.

5:38 pm. She held her breath, not wanting the Joker to hear her in the room.

"Uh...where is Nichole?" Jasper repeated, looking at her panicky. Nichole could tell from the look in his eyes that he wanted Nichole to help him think of something.

Nichole motioned with her hand cutting at her neck in a slicing motion, to not tell him she was in the room. Jasper stuck out his tongue, childishly. "She is upstairs...She's been there all day. Only came down once for a cup of water." He slightly let out a sigh of relief, happy he thought of a good enough excuse.

Another pause.

"Yes of course.....okay.....got it..." Jasper hung up the phone, shoving it back in his pocket.

"What did he say...?" Nichole muttered.

"Well....He asked if I saw the news..I told him yes. And then he asked if I finished up with the sewing I needed to do for him. I said yes." Jasper began to count off what he was saying on his fingers. "Oh and he said he'd be here in two minutes."

Nichole sprang up from the floor and screamed. "WHAT?! WHAT! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT!" She caught her breath as she began to pace. "This is not good! This is not good!"

"Babe.. calm d-"

"But Jasper! I AM STONED! He can't come here to me looking like this! I don't want to even see him on a regular day let alone when I am out of it slightly!"

"Hun, RELAX! The last stuff I gave you an hour ago was cheap shit, it should start to wear off in another hour…" he paused, "But then again the headies we smoked up at noon… you'll still feel their large buzz and mildly the light stuff."

She froze. Weed and Nichole and being panicked, is not a good combination for Nichole.

"Oh FUCK!" She yelled for no apparent reason.

"Hey hey take it easy girl! Damn it! You DO gotta set of lungs on ya." He burst out laughing, and ducked when Nichole threw a pillow at him she picked up off the ground, "You nearly took out my hearing." He jabbed one finger in his ear and swirled it around. "Jeez girl as soon as I told you that your face went as white as a ghost. Chill-lax! What's the worst that could happen? He ain't gonna kill you."

"You don't understand! After what happened last night everything will be so awkward and.... and I hate him!" Nichole felt as if she was going to pass out. She didn't want to be in the room when he entered. "I can't...I can't be in here. I am going upstairs. I don't wanna see him. I don't want him to see me!" She said this all very fast.

"Oh and speaking of last night, girl, you're gonna have to tell me everything he did to please you the way he did," Jasper chuckled.

Nichole rolled her eyes.

The pit of her stomach was in a knot. Sweat began to form on the brim of her hairline. She shook her hands in the air; eyes darting around the room in some vain search for something that could help calm her down.

"Then get upstairs girl! Go! If you stand here and look like that he might think naughty things and get ideas. Then he won't play poker with us and- HEY NO! Continue what you are doing! If he don't play with us, then I'll win!" Jasper teased as he reached into his pocket pulling out a little container of eye drops. He took off his glasses and started applying them to his eyes.

Nichole shot a glare at him as she started to dash out of his room, but she tripped in his door threshold. She regained balance and made her way to the stairs leading to the third floor. Being on the second floor was a very good thing for her at the moment. It would give her more time to think of excuses to say to the Joker once he came back.

She was almost all the way at the top of the stairs when she remembered something-....

_Damn it!_

She had left her bowel and glass of water on the living room table.

_Oh shit! He will know that I have been down there!_

That would clearly show Jasper was lying and get him in trouble. She didn't want him to get in trouble because of her.

And, quite frankly, she wanted to save her own ass from giving an explanation.

She figured by now a minute had passed from her and Jasper talking and from her running up the stiars. She had less than a minute now.

She turned on her heel, sprinting down the three flights of steps to the table in the living room. She snatched her bowel and glass and ran to the kitchen where she placed them in the sink and furiously ran water on them to wash them clear of the little crumbs of cereal at the bottom of the bowel and the fog of her breath on the water glass.

She couldn't help but smile at herself slightly, even her in high state, she was still thinking somewhat intelligently.

Or so she thought.

She placed the bowel and glass back into the cabinets, and froze in her spot as she heard the sound of a van pulling up and stopping outside the warehouse.

Her whole body tensed in her spot as the sound of a van door opening and being slammed shut, buzzed into her ear. She forgot how to move her legs; they began to feel heavy. Her breath hitched and her eyes shut tightly. Once she reopened her eyes she did a mad dash out of the room and up the stairs.

But as she hit the kitchen threshold, she tripped over the floor changing from kitchen tile to the living room carpet, completely stubbing her toe. She kneeled down, biting her lip to hide her yelp as she held onto her toe with both hands squeezing it to dull the pain. Short heavy breaths left her quivering lips. Her toe stung so badly.

_No! No this can't be happening! Suck it up!_

She heard someone enter the shipping room of the warehouse, and realized the Joker was two rooms away from where she was. She bucked up the pain and shot up, sprinting up the three sets of stairs, they flew under her feet, until she was in the hallway leading to his room. She threw open the door and shut it quietly, deciding to dart into the bathroom as her hiding spot.

Once in the bathroom, she was out of breath and all her running caught up to her. Her nerves still remained as she sat down near the toilet on the faded yellow tile filled floor.

Her entire face felt sensitive, and funny. She couldn't help but feel a slight ball of a spiral in her body.

When she started to sway her head, dully, in circles she noticed a small air vent on the wall and heard the echoing voices from downstairs. She got closer and pressed her face to the vent so she could clearly hear what they were saying.

A chill went up her spine upon hearing the Joker's voice."What a day...What a progressive day indeed."

Jasper spoke now; he had come downstairs and was in the kitchen or living room now. "What you do besides that tape?"

Nichole was surprised; even when Jasper was high he could still act normal when he had to. Oh how she wished she could have that talent!

"Ran into the Batman...but he was taken care of." The Joker replied carelessly (he hadn't suspected a thing!) "A woman was screaming for help because someone was mugging her, so old bat boy had to leave me alone to go help her and I was able to get away." The Joker laughed and a loud bang was heard. Nichole figured he slammed his hand on a table or something. "Are you finished with that?"

"Yeah. Worked on it all day. The black suit is done." Jasper said.

"Good...very good. So where is little Nichole?" The Joker's voice went up a few octaves.

Nichole tensed against the air vent. _Please don't come up here. Please don't come up here._ She thought to herself.

"Uh…She's been upstairs all day like I said. Barely made a peep." Jasper lied.

Nichole panicked once again. _Why the fuck did he have to hesitate?! _She thought furiously. _Now the Joker will know that I have been down there!_ She had known the Joker to be good at telling when someone was lying. She hoped Jasper could lie well.

Maybe he will gain redemption somehow.

Nichole heard loud talking now as all the Joker's men must have entered the living room or kitchen area. Nichole still was not sure what room she was hearing the talking through the air vent. She figured that they all were going to play poker now, as she heard an odd pattering sound which took her a few second to recognize to be the should of shuffling cards.

She tried to focus on all the voices, as she could not hear the Joker's at the moment. She panicked thinking he was coming upstairs. Before she could think of that thought anymore a voice pulled her from the air vent.

"Nichole...You really need to relax. Jasper told you he was going to play poker, so it's obvious he isn't going to come up here until poker is over. Weed makes you too paranoid, love." Candy said.

Nichole gasped loudly, falling back into a sitting position.

Candy was sitting in the bathtub. Her legs were spread out in front of her in the tub. The dress only reached up to her mid-thigh, showing off her long legs. She looked like a complete whore. Her head was leaning back on the far wall of the shower. She sent a glare at Nichole when their eyes met.

"Why...Why are you outside my body again?! Why can't you stay in my head?" Nichole angrily asked.

"Because...sweetie...We are way past chats inside your head. We are big girls Nichole, and when we talk to one another it should be face to face now."

Nichole paused, "I knew that shit Jasper gave me was laced! It was probably mixed with acid or something… I told him I didn't want to smoke!" She said angrily to herself.

Candy burst out in laughter from where she was sitting in the tub. "Oh Nichole!" She said as she brought one of her hands to wipe away her tears of laughter. "You really do know how to make me smile at times! Stop trying to blame the drugs love; you are already as fucked up without them. I believe last time we had a face to face chat you were not on drugs. Besides...you don't have _that_ much weed in you."

"You fucking bitch! You're not even real!" Nichole stood up and went to slap Candy across the face, to prove her point, but let out a small yelp as Candy caught Nichole's hand just before it made contact with her face. She painfully twisted Nichole's wrist to the side. Nichole started to panic. She cursed herself; she truly had wished that this was a trip.

"I am not real am I?" Candy growled.

"Ugh.....How...How are you doing that?" Nichole groaned, shaking her hand free of Candy's grip.

"Easy. What you can't see is, when I actually am hitting you..." Candy made a mock motion of slapping herself dramatically, turning her to the side of her fake slap, "…It's you hitting yourself."

She looked back up at Nichole from her faked slap. She leaned her head forward slightly as she sat, causing her to look at Nichole through the top of her eyes as they slit in green halves, staring up at Nichole. Nichole was terrified; the red makeup aligning her eyes just added to the allusion of Candy looking like a demented demon confronting her.

Candy _was_ Nichole's personal demon.

Candy let out a crooked, twisted smile before she continued: "You are just **soo** crazy… you can't see it. But anyone looking at you right now would be watching you talking to thin air and hitting and attacking yourself. Another thing you don't realize is...when I talk to you outside of your head...the words I speak also actually come out of your mouth. Again...you are so crazy you don't see it. You only see me…In front of you talking to you." Candy spit at Nichole's feet before she leaned her head back up against the shower wall at her.

"...What… What the hell did you do to me last night?! I was feeling the pleasure so much I...I-" Nichole stuttered.

"You actually enjoyed the sex?" Candy glared.

Nichole froze, her spiral stopped with her hesitation."Yes..." She said. Her inner spiral began to move, slightly. "Now explain to me what the fuck you did!" Nichole yelled.

Candy stood up in the tub and placed a finger over Nichole's mouth. "Do you ever think before you speak? You are speaking so loud! You may attract attention to yourself...so whisper please. Indoor voices." Candy spoke to her as if she was speaking to a child. "I know that you are still under the buzz of the substance, but try to keep your head together, please."

"Just tell me what you did." Nichole hissed, clenching her jaw.

"Nothing...I didn't do shit. You were in control last night Nichole. The Joker was just sending you pleasure and not being rough with you. It is natural for your body to react to the pleasure in the way you did." Candy turned on her heel and opened the closet to the bathroom, going through its contents carelessly.

"No...NO! I refuse to believe that! What did you do?" Nichole shouted, her breathing came out in loud puffs.

"Well...I might have toyed with the wiring of your brain...to maximize the pleasure you were receiving....but that was it. I didn't take over at all...I just intensify the pleasure you received. Had I not done this....Well..I actually don't know what would have happened had I not done this. You might have reacted the same way, because damn Nichole you were getting a lot of pleasure. I just made sure all the feelings you had to push him away were faded so all you could focus on was the pleasure." Candy said innocently.

"Why...Why would you do that?" Nichole sputtered.

Candy suddenly slammed the closet door shut and charged up to Nichole taking her by the neck and slammed her into the wall, beginning to choke her. "Listen you **fucking** little whore! You wanna know why I did it?! Because I could feel the pleasure you were getting, and although I couldn't take over I wanted to feel it! I wanted to feel what the Joker was giving you and pretend that it was ME he was giving it to and not you and your fucking whoreish self! You disgust me Nichole! YOU FUCKING DISGUST ME! I HATE BEING IN THE SAME BODY AS YOU YOU FUCKING SLUT! You know how I feel about him and yet last night you embraced the pleasure he was giving you, ignoring my feelings about it!" She gave Nichole's neck another shake, digging her nails into Nichole's flesh. "AND YOU FUCKING ENJOYED IT WHEN HE POUNDED IN YOUR FUCKING INNOCENT CUNT!"

Candy, looked absolutely horrifying; her teeth were bared and bits of saliva hit Nichole's face as she screamed.

Nichole gritted her teeth, trying to muster up her bravery. She placed her own hands on Candy's and dug her fingernails into them in an attempt to cause pain to Candy and shake her off. "I don't give a FUCK about your feelings! IT'S BECAUSE OF YOU THAT I AM SO FUCKED UP!"

Candy tightened her hold. "The only reason I couldn't take control last night was because I was so upset...so broken hearted that the Joker clearly was showing that he wanted you and not me! I couldn't stand it! I couldn't take control of you. Only a brief moment I was able too, but then my energy was spent! So don't you fucking yell at me! What you did was so demeaning to yourself and selfish! You are a fucking cunt!" Candy yelled.

"GET OFF OF ME!" Nichole sent a punch at Candy's stomach and was instantly surprised when she herself felt the pain of a punch being sent to her stomach. She doubled over, choking in pain.

Candy released Nichole and began to laugh. "SEE! It's just as I told you! You attack me and you are actually attacking yourself!" Her laughter picked up as she fell to the ground amused.

Candy then suddenly disappeared in midair, returning as a simple voice in Nichole's head. _You can't win Nichole. You can't....So give up....And stay away from the Joker in the bedroom.....He knows how to pleasure you now...and he won't stop. If it happens again I will… I will… I will think of something terrible to do to you!_

_Don't fucking boss me around you bitch! If last night made you feel pain, then I'll do that every fucking night of my life until you grow so weak and heartbroken you die! I HATE YOU! _Nichole screamed in her mind in anger.

Now honestly...she didn't mean that. This was her anger talking… As well as the weed. She was very pissed at the moment and just wanted Candy to feel upset. She had found one thing that caused Candy to feel sad and she was going to milk it for all it was worth.

Candy just simply growled in Nichole's mind.

Nichole sighed leaning her back on the wall shutting her eyes. She wiped the sweat from the back of her neck, exhaling loudly. She had to calm her anger down.

She sprung up to her feet quickly and ran cold water in the sink. She cupped her hands and splashed the cold water furiously on her face.

Her confrontation with Candy, not only made her hate Candy more, but it made her hate herself.

She leaned her forehead on the cold mirror, trying to wind down her spiral… it was almost getting out of hand.

_Why me.. Why why me?_ She then cursed herself for wallowing in her own self pity… She hated sounding weak… Ever since her sickness, Arkham, and last night.

Her breath caught… Last night.

She leaned her head back from the mirror and looked into it.

This time, she **really** looked into it.

The girl she saw staring back at her was someone she had once known…

Nichole sucked in a breath and pulled the strap of her tank top down, as well as her bra, exposing half of her chest. She cringed. The bite marks remained, as well as the hickeys. She looked like a Dalmatian. She was surprised that her breast wasn't as battered as she expected it to be. Sure, there were finger bruises surrounding the soft, large mound of flesh (from when he groped her in the shower) but she was surprised that there were not deep bite marks. The faded bite marks from last week seemed so minimal compared to the hickeys that danced over her pale skin. She also realized that they were not as red as she thought they would be either… She took up a hand, and lightly touched her breast.

As she ran her hand over her breast, she felt the Joker's sweat and saliva that had been on there.

She looked back up to her face in the mirror and saw that tears were in her eyes.

_He really had been gentle on me last night…_

Nichole couldn't tell you why she did this, but she cried; only in light sobs though as the tears ran down her face. She continued to cry as she readjusted her top and sat down against the wall.

She cried out all of her pain, sorrow, and anger.

She remained like that for about an hour, sitting in thought after she cried. She was relieved that the substance was starting to wear off… but she still had that large buzz… Just like Jasper said she would. The only sounds, other than her breathing, were the sounds of the men downstairs cheerfully playing cards and drinking. She could tell many must have been getting drunk, due to the increasing volume of their voices and it sounded as if every time someone would have a bad hand of cards they would groan loudly.

Nichole's throat felt very dry. She needed something to drink. She glanced at the bedroom at the bed. Her stomach fell seeing the bed. Upon seeing it all her mind could think about was what happened last night. She was still shocked the Joker had not come upstairs yet....but very thankful.

She sighed seeing she could not remain upstairs. She needed a drink and some food, and once the Joker returned upstairs she doubted he would grab her food or even allow her to leave. He had spent the entire day away from her. He would want some "Nichole Time" and he would want it as soon as he entered the room.

Hopefully it would not be a repeat of last night. Though she knew that would not be _entirely_ bad...

She shuttered regardless.

Nichole stood up slowly and made her way into the bedroom. She cracked the bedroom door open and peered out into the dark hallway. No one was in it. She let out a loud exhale as she stepped out of the bedroom into the shadowy hallway. Each step she would take her nerves grew.

She stopped at the end of the hallway at the top of the stairs. Two flights of stairs and she would be in the living room, in plain view of the Joker.

The fact she _knew_ he was down there caused her to feel light headed. She decided to wait a little and sit on the very top step, leaning her head on the wall beside her. She didn't possess the courage at the moment to face him. Again it was not fearful panic that was coursing through her, but embarrassment panic. Almost like butterflies in her stomach, but not in the good way. They weren't the good kind of butterflies, more like inside-eating butterflies tearing her up each passing moment.

As well as her returning spiral.

She shut her eyes listening to the men downstairs. She could clearly make out the Joker's voice among them now. His creepy....unique voice that would change tones so many times as he spoke a single sentence.

Nichole placed her hands on her knees and her face in her hands. She rubbed her eyes in her palms, gripping strands of her hair. She felt sick to her stomach; anxiety taking over her thoughts. Each word she heard him speak made her tense and feel as if the walls surrounding her were collapsing around her.

_You can do this Nichole....Just go downstairs and get a drink and something to eat. He may talk to you....but...most likely nothing about the sex...He is with a large group of his goons...He wouldn't bring it up to them. _She tried to comfort herself.

She slid down a step, before slowly standing up and fully taking a step down. Then another. And another. Once she made it down the first flight of stairs, she knew there was no turning back. She was at least thankful that they could not hear her climbing down due to their excessive talking. She was also thankful she was only having that strong buzz. She turned the corner of the flight of stairs and saw the bottom of the stairwell now. She could see one of the sides of the threshold leading into the kitchen. She could also see about two of the Joker's goons in the living room passed out with bottles in their hands.

Her fists turned her knuckles white and she rubbed her hands tenderly before reaching the bottom step. She hugged the wall right next to the threshold leading into the kitchen. She could hear the Joker more clearer than ever.

She placed a hand over her mouth to hide her loud breathing. She felt her hand bumping repeatedly into her nose as it was shaking. Every nerve in her body was shaking. Nichole's other hand clutched her stomach, as she felt as if she was going to get sick.

_All you have to do is turn the corner...turn the corner and try not to make eye contact with him. Just grab a drink and a snack and you're good!_ Nichole said to herself many times. _Just go...Just go just go just go just go just go!_

Nichole took her hands off her mouth and stepped forward into the kitchen. She of course met eyes with the Joker as soon as she entered as his chair was placed on the opposite end of the table from where she stood so he could see who entered and who left the room clearly. He was looking up from his hand of cards. A smug grin veered to the left side of his mouth as he looked at Nichole. His dark eye glistened in the only light in the room, which was provided by the cheap overhead light above the table.

"Well… look who's finally decided to grace us with her presence! I was beginning to get worried you were avoiding me." The Joker raised an eyebrow at her before returning his gaze to the cards in his hands.

Nichole said nothing, feeling her knees almost give out as she made her way to the fridge; opening it and pulling out a cold slice of pizza. She was about to cross to the sink to grab herself water when the Joker called her over. "Nichole...come over here for a second."

_Oh fuck... _Nichole thought to herself. _He knows that I'm slightly stoned! Fuck fuck! He must have noticed my stumbling…_

She shut her eyes tightly while her back was turned to him, bracing herself, then she slowly made her way next to him at the table standing to his side. "Yes?" She asked politely, not wanting to anger him at all in any way.

"Tell me what card I should play." He stated licking his lips. He turned his head towards her watching as she tried to look at his cards.

He examined her posture and her dazed eyes…. He knew something was up.

She pointed to a set of cards, as his hand was a full house. "Play all those cards. You don't need to swap any cards out."

"So you** DO** know how to play poker Nichole. Oh the things I learn about you each day just amaze me. How about next game you join in?" The way he asked, sounded more like a demand rather than a suggestion. He kept that devilish smile placed upon his face as he leaned his face closer to hers slowly.

She backed up. "F-fine." She stuttered. She did not want to play poker with him. She did not even want to be in the same room as him.

She knew her tongue would be loose due to her buzz… and that he might end up cutting it out.

She walked away from the Joker leaning on the counter behind him, eating up the pizza slice quickly. The Joker placed down his cards and she could tell he was grinning even though she could only see his back. "Looks like I win again boys..."

Nichole tensed. It was her turn to play now.

* * *

**Kait: **Yeah. Like seriously no Joker in this chapter. Just at the end and just him mentioned throughout it. But next chapter will be good and Joker filled, and I should let you all know that its basically almost done. I just have to finish the end, then send it off to Sydney to be edited and then edit it myself. So expect it soon haha.

**Sydney:** Again we are sorry this took so long.

**********NEW*******  
****8...  
****that's right EIGHT new pieces of fanart in profile:  
4 done by Freddyf202.  
1 done by darkgrey-nymphette.  
2 done by 123ekaterina (one picture is mature content so you may have to log into DevaintART to see it)  
1 done by Demonic-black-cat.  
GO check them out now! =D**


	43. Poker Face

**Kait:** I'd like to start off by saying I had a hugely insanely busy week which was why so long without updates. _(smiles)_ I saw the Phantom of the Opera for the 3rd time on stage. Best Phantom ever. Seriously. You all need to see this guy. John Cudia. He was the BEST. Like his performance in all honesty was as good as Heath's as the Joker. And this is a staged production. I was eight rows from the stage and omg....just amazing. Best show ever. Third times a charm i guess haha.

**Sydney:** And then after Kait and I talked I realized I had seen John as the Phantom two years ago! He IS amazing.

**Kait:** And then last sunday i saw a few bands play live at Six Flags. We the Kings, Boys Like Girls, The Veronicas, AND Lady GaGa. Heh she is AMAZING live. One outfit she wore....was just made out of bubbles. No joke.

**Joker:** _(has a stupid grin on his face as he pictures it in his head)_

**Kait:** Also shout out to Debronze for her kind words and encouragement AND her amazing story A Tricked Revenge which you all should read!

* * *

The Joker tapped the person who was sitting to the seat to the right of him on the shoulder. "I think you are done." He suggested, but his tone held more of a demand rather than choice. The man seated in the chair, whom was obviously drunk, wobbled out of the chair and left the room, going up the set of stairs to the second floor.

The Joker patted the now empty chair next to him, sucking on his bottom lip. Nichole wiped the sweat forming on the back of her neck before she strode over to the chair, having to lightly brush against the left side of the Joker to be able to squeeze into the seat, since the chair was crowded on its other side as well by another chair holding one of the Joker's goons. And the Joker was not about to push over so he would be able to give Nichole room to sit, or hell at that even breath, without him being able to hear and feel it.

She became so paranoid on remembering that she had to give him the best impression that she was completely sober. She felt beads of sweat run down the back of her neck.

The table was not meant for all the chairs surrounding it. There was almost no space between one chair and the next. Her heart jumped when her foot accidentally kicked the chair in her walkway with a man sitting on the table. She froze for a second as the Joker looked at her amused and smirked.

_Does he know?!_

She finally managed to sit down without hitting any more chairs. She made sure to sit in the center of her seat, so her sides did not touch the Joker or the henchman beside her. She glanced at the henchman and nearly sighed with relief upon seeing it was Jasper seated next to her. But she had to remember to not act as if she had gotten close to him (or even know him at that!), because that would contradict the lie Jasper said about Nichole being upstairs all day. She could not allow Jasper to get in trouble. Not to mention to act as if she was never intoxicated.

The very feeling of the man next to Nichole, the aura the Joker gave off, was very uncomfortable to her. The last time she had seen and been this close to him was last night (for obvious reasons). She was so tense and nervous around him, feeling the awkwardness, nausea, shame and humiliation inside of her.

It wasn't the awkward feelings one would have around someone they liked; but rather the awkward feelings of being around the person you hated and yet last night they touched you and gave you so much pleasure. So much pleasure that after it was over, you felt the need for more. And more. And more.

Because you have not felt any pleasure in months. You felt as if your life had been over and all feelings of pleasure were gone forever. And then the impossible happened and you embraced it, because of your selfish need for a feeling other than pain and sadness.

That was the feeling of her humiliation; how much she loved the sex.

She felt so embarrassed about last night. He had watched her face and her body moan and move with approval to his soft lingering touch and merciless grinding movements. Though she couldn't see him clearly last night in the darkness of his room, she knew he could see her very well. He always had a sort of inhuman ability to see at night time or to have his eyes adjust to the night's darkness more quickly than she could, though then again her body was somewhat in pale moonlight shadows and perhaps that had been how he could gaze at her facial expressions.

Every emotion that played on her face, he was basking in and just biting his tongue now as he sits next to her at the poker table, waiting to tease her for her actions last night that he had caused her to do with his simple pleasure giving abilities.

Images of his outline, in the dark, looming above her started to dart across her mind. And yet...there he was...

She knew and he knew that the sex was amazing.

That is what made Nichole loathsome of both him and her. She also knew clearly how truly insane, disturbed, and traumatized she was.

All because of this one man who ruined her life.

The very man who did all of those sinful acts last night...was right next to her, forcing her to play poker.

To play another _game_ with him.

She knew she would not get off this easily and that when they went upstairs he would most definitely start discussing with her last night's events and tease her for the fact her body could not resist his pleasure giving hands and mouth.

She was taken from her thoughts when the Joker slide ten, one dollar bills in front of Nichole, giving them to her. "To start you off" He said, returning to look at his own money placed in front of him.

She avoided eye contact with him, feeling no need to course an even greater nerve through her body by looking into his two dark orbs that were unreadable most of the time.

While she was slightly high at the moment, she was able to clearly tie in the downward spiral that she felt while intoxicated with the feeling she got when she looked into those eyes. His eyes would pull her in, uncomfortably, and keep her locked in them like a black hole.

After that everyone began to place their bets, that were required to take place before receiving their cards. It was the first rule of poker. It was so that in the end of a game the winner was guaranteed to get money or a prize for winning. Everyone else put in a few bucks, and Nichole put five in.

She hoped that she would lose all her money in this game and she would have to quit. Then she could go upstairs and try to fake sleep, or maybe shower herself into sobriety. Maybe then the Joker would not wake her up and bug her.....But this was the Joker she was thinking about....He would _so _wake her up. And even at that, he would be able to tell she was faking sleep.

He was able to read people's movements and minds with ease.

The Joker began to shuffle the cards in his hands in a graceful-like motion. Nichole could not help but stare as the cards moved back and forth between his gloveless hands, never falling even the slightest bit out of place. He then started to deal cards out, one to each person (himself being last to receive a card as he was the dealer and that was another key rule of Poker. Deal to the left, ending on the dealer.). Then he repeated himself until everyone had five cards in front of them, face down. He then placed the rest of the deck in the center of the table, next to the pile of money being bet. Also in the center of the table was packs and packs of cigarettes, a few lighters, and empty beer bottles.

Nichole picked up her five cards with one hand lazily in a fluid like motion that seemed to move with her as well. She held them close to her and glanced down at them with hazy, but reading, eyes. She had a pretty normal hand. She would need to swap out two cards and then she would have the chance of having a 'Straight' hand. People began to place their bets. The Joker placed all his money in grinning. He obviously was not one to use a poker face.

Nichole threw in a dollar. A few people placed their cards on the table as a gesture they were folding (or quitting since their hand was not a good one).

Next everyone, who was still betting and had not folded, placed the cards on the table they wanted to swap out. (In poker you get one opportunity to swap out cards to receive new ones in hopes of getting some that could make your hand of cards better. At the most you can swap out three. One gets the new cards from the center deck of cards.) Everyone received their new cards, and after that, half the people remaining folded and the other half placed more bets in the center. Nichole decided to fold on her hand as well, seeing that it was not a good one.

So she lost six of her ten dollars....It didn't matter to her.

The game continued and more bets were placed. Then in the end the Joker won that round. He greedily took the money from the center and placed it in front of him. Two men left the table after that, from either the fact they were tired or drunk, or they had no more money to bet.

Nichole looked at the Joker from the corner of her eye. Her eyes then danced over him with her new wondering mind. Not in admiration or infatuation, but in simple observance twined with disgust. She could see he had a beer bottle in front of him, but did not appear to be drunk. The bottle seemed to only have been drunken out of once or twice. He also had a cigarette tucked behind his ear that was facing her. His purple jacket was off and hanging off the back of the chair he was seated in. His face paint was slightly smudged and the paint on his ear completely gone. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and green vest buttoned up like normal. His gloves were off as well and resting next to him on the table. Nichole could see that the henchmen on the left side of the Joker, was seated as far as possible away from the Joker on his seat.

Nichole took this opportunity while the Joker was counting the money he won in this round, to scoot a little in her seat so her sides were slightly touching the side of Jasper and a wide enough space to place two fists was between her and the Joker.

Jasper noticed and kicked her leg slyly under the table, giving her a slight unseen by the Joker, smirk to Nichole. He whispered under his breath, while the chatter between all the other men at the table overpowered the Joker's hearing ability to hear him (or so Jasper and Nichole hoped), "Smooth Nichole. Very smooth... Am I your kick stand or something?"

Nichole rested her elbow that was closer to the Joker on the table and placed her forehead in her hand, pretending to be resting her head or rubbing her head, while she looked at Jasper and smirked. "This night is not going to be fun at all." she slurred while her eyes half closed.

He grinned and pointed to his eyes "Still buzzed?" he asked.

Nichole rolled her eyes. "Is it obvious?" she mouthed.

Jasper held his hand flat in the air and waved it slightly to give the "sort of" sign.

"Don't worry," he said as he put his hand down "I am too."

Nichole quickly placed a hand over her mouth to keep from giggling out loud. Jasper's mouth puffed out while he tried to keep in his giggles as well; his body was visible shaking.

Nichole then saw movement in the corner of her eye and turned and saw the Joker eyeing them suspiciously on and off. Nichole quickly faked a cough (not knowing that that would do her no good whatsoever) and Jasper cleared his throat and started shuffling the cards.

As they played three more games of poker, Nichole could feel that her mind was more open and she began to laugh more whenever the men would make stupid plays while others laughed at them as well.

Nichole and the Joker didn't speak or even making eye contact the whole time. They were more focused on the aura of the game. Or at least that's how they appeared to one another. Nichole was relived though that the buzz was starting to enervate slightly.

She did notice the Joker looking at her on and off every so often during games and after them. Nichole was trying her best to not make her chatter with Jasper, loud and obvious to the Joker. Nichole and Jasper couldn't help themselves; they NEEDED to talk about silly things.

It made Nichole feel like she was not sitting next to the Joker, to the monster, when she spoke to Jasper. As if she was out of his world and grasp.

It wasn't until the fourth game that **real** conversation started. Half the men at the table had left and only five people remained at the table: the Joker, Nichole, Jasper, and two other nameless loud goons.

The chairs had shifted around now so more space was between everyone. Nichole tried to scoot her chair away from the Joker as Jasper scooted to the right more giving her more room and himself more room (since the person next to Jasper had left a few seconds ago). Nichole was about to scoot almost all the way past the slight curb of the circular table so she could have a very large space between the Joker and her. She tried to be as discreet as possible… which of course was _impossible_ due to her state.

The Joker caught on to what she was doing and reached over, grabbed onto the back of Nichole's chair, and pulled her back towards him. She could feel her torso glide as her legs and butt kept her in her seat. He pulled her chair all the way so it was touching his chair; her side was slightly against his. He met her eyes and winked mischievously.

She scooted almost instantly so she was leaning her body to the other side of the chair, leaning towards Jasper who was completely out of reach by this point. She didn't care that half her body was hanging off the side of the right chair. She didn't want to be anywhere near the left side of the chair she was sitting in. She didn't want to be touching him in the slightest bit.

She also didn't care if her actions made it more obvious that she was not in the right mind: Right now, at the moment, her mind was only focusing on getting away from the monster. Any part of her body that would even skim against him for a half of a second, felt like it was on fire.

To distract him, Jasper sat up and went to the fridge pulling out a few beers and brought them to the table. He gave one to the two other goons and the Joker and then offered one to Nichole. The Joker took his (as he had slowly made his way through his other bottle during the course of the four poker games) and he opened it taking a quick gulp. Nichole gave a small, unseen by the Joker, smile to Jasper as she took the bottle.

By this point with only two other people at the table besides them and the Joker, Jasper and her, she could not make unseen conversation any more. Also...She sort of got the feeling that the conversations as small and soft as they had been with Jasper were not all unseen by the Joker.

_Great just another thing he can question to me about tonight....._ She thought to herself as she tried to open the bottle, but her nerves that remained bottled up inside of her made the small task rather difficult; not to mention her being buzzed and paranoid. She struggled trying to twist the cap off of the glass bottle.

_Come on, come on… Act normal!_

Suddenly, the bottle was taken from her grip by the Joker. He took the cap off with ease and held it out in front of her to take back, with a smirk placed on his face. "Having trouble Nichole? You're not nervous are you? You look...a bit scared." He licked his lips; the sound echoing in her ears.

Nichole straightened up in her seat reaching forward and taking the bottle, keeping her hand away from his on the bottle. She leaned back in her seat bringing the bottle close to her lips. "No..I am fine. Thank you." She lied, attempting to sound calm.

He pulled the cigarette out from behind his ear and placed it in his mouth. He then reached forward for the lighter at the center of the table lighting it slowly; a brief thought passing through Nichole's mind that him and fire was not something she liked at all. He took a deep breath in and then took the cigarette in between his two fingers exhaling, sending a breeze of smoke towards the center of the table. He did this once more, but turned towards Nichole as he exhaled sending the smoke in her face. "Would you like a smoke Nikki?" He asked with a playful unreadable tone; sort of sounding as if he was not be serious.

Nichole felt suddenly irritated and decided to take him up on the offer. "Why yes. I would love a cigarette right now actually." She stated in an irritated tone. She met his wild eyes and furrowed a brow.

He raised one of his own eyebrows looking quite amused. He reached for the pack of cigarettes that was in the center of the table next to the lighter and grabbed one. Nichole stuck out her hand to take it, but he did not give it to her; merely holding it between his thumb and pointer finger in front of her.

He wasn't going to make this simple act easy. He brought his hand forward with the cigarette, and placed it inches from her mouth indicating he wanted to place it in between her lips _for_ her. She opened her lips slightly, staring down at his hand. Last night they had been his weapon for pleasure. Today they could be used as the same thing if she was not careful. Or they could be used for something even far worse....

He placed it in her mouth and then brought the lighter up to the end of it lighting it. He looked down at her as the dim red embers of light appeared at the end of it and grinned with his own still in his mouth. She brought her fingers up to and inhaled the smoky air, feeling herself relax in the process as she exhaled the smoke forward into the air. She held the bud idly between her index and middle finger as the Joker began to deal out cards once more.

Jasper could not hide the laughter in his throat as Nichole smoked the cigarette as he thought about today's _previous _smoking episode.

"What are you laughing at _now_ Jasper?" The Joker asked in an irritated voice, but it was obvious that he was amused. "Have you never seen a woman smoke before?"

Jasper mustered everything he had to keep a straight face and stop laughing, but his face remained red from the lack of oxygen. "Quite the opposite actually." He couldn't hide his grin.

Nichole took another inhale of smoke, shutting her eyes to enjoy the feelings it gave her. She promised herself after college she would quit smoking things in general, but now that promise was broken. It was not such a bad thing to be doing at the moment. It was actually relaxing her panicky mind. It allowed her to be somewhat relaxed with the Joker next to her. But she knew as soon as they were back upstairs all the cigarettes in the world would not help her.

Hopefully they would help her die faster. At this point, Nichole couldn't give a shit.

They played another game of poker. The Joker tried to peek at Nichole hand during the middle of the game. She hid it from his view, placing her cards against her chest and shot a glare at him.

He made a face. "Tut. Tut. Oh don't look at me like that Nichole. You didn't look at me like that last night, so why start back up on that habit of glaring?"

Nichole jumped in her seat as his words hit her. Her cards dropped out of her hand and landed on the table in front of her, face up. She looked at him in the corner of her eye trying her best to keep a straight face, as he began to laugh.

The other two goons were snickering.

As for Jasper on the other hand… Well if Nichole didn't know Jasper well enough, she would have easily mistaken him from crying (due to the tears of laughter in his eyes).

She felt the blush stain her face and stared down at her lap now. _They all know....They ALL know what happened last night. Maybe those two goons over there don't know the full story and Jasper only knows part of it...but they know...Oh god they know. _

She wanted to hide her face, to hide the blush on it that was obviously adding to everyone's amusement.

Jasper coughed loudly. "So…" Jasper said, casually, "Will tonight be like last night again? Or will I lose mi audición" He then grinned "… or my ceiling as well for that matter?"

Jasper's face showed as soon as those words came out, he wanted to take them back. It was his drunken state of mind doing the talking here. He was just like Nichole in a sense. Whenever she drank too much her tounge ran loose. So did Jasper's.

Regardless, Nichole's mouth dropped open with horror and embarrassment.

_Oh. No. He. Didn't. _

Nichole was fuming as the men around her (including the Joker) were beside themselves in laughter.

_He is so dead!_ Nichole thought to herself.

The Joker slammed his fist on the table, nearly knocking over his beer bottle, in his laughing fit. "Oh.. Jasper" He grinned. "You truly are lucky that your room is the second best one in the house." Nichole's face paled. She knew he was referring to the fact that his room was right under the Joker's.

The Joker continued smiling "Though I must say," he said as he scooted closer to Nichole, "It is about time that you have witnessed some _girl_ on guy action." He stoked Nichole's hair but she turned away from him, hiding her hands in humiliation.

The Joker was clearly enjoying this.

_Please let this be over…_ She kept wishing to herself as more fits of laughter erupted in the room. She knew that Jasper wasn't offended by his sexuality being poked fun at.

"So does that mean you fold this game Nichole?" The Joker chimed, after his laughing fit, gesturing towards her strewn about cards on the table that she had dropped. He lightly tapped her leg with his shoe. It caused her to jump in her seat again.

"Yeah...I fold I fold okay?" She had to blink to prevent the tears from rolling down her face. When she got very embarrassed, her eyes would water. It wasn't like she was crying, it was just something that happened and she did not want anyone to misinterpret it for crying. Blinking always did the trick to hiding the watery build up on the bottom of her green eyes.

She took the last puff of the cigarette, before going to squash it in the ash tray on the table. It was on the other side of the Joker (on his left side), so this act of placing it in the tray required her to reach her arm across in front of him.

Once the cigarette was out, the Joker suddenly reached forward like a bear trap and took her wrist and gripped it firmly with one hand. She locked eyes with him, a small gasp leaving her mouth as she did expect him to grip her so suddenly...and at least not yet until they were alone. She could feel the texture of his rough skin on his rough hands… Almost how she felt then fondling her body parts last night… She knew that this current gesture wasn't anything major or sexual in any way, it just was uncomfortable because it was him doing and she needed to stop thinking he was going to just be sexual with her and-..._Oh fuck what is he doing?. _

He slowly brought her hand up by his mouth and sent his held in smoky breath on it, causing heat to tingle her skin and pores. "Oh is little Nichole embarrassed about something?" He inquired. As he spoke his lips would lightly brush against her skin. He kept his eyes on her this whole time. "Don't worry. When we go back upstairs...I am sure we can talk it over and clear things up."

She pulled her hand back as she felt his grip loosen. She rubbed at her hand, trying to get the feel of him off of her. She seethed at him.

The game continued as Nichole stared blankly at her lap, the men chatting around her and in the end the game turning in the Joker's favor of course. Nichole drank at her beer more, feeling the effects slowly taking place. She finished her bottle up and placed it back on the table. Jasper left and came back to the table with another round of beer.

"Last game for me man." Jasper stated as he chugged his beer down quickly.

"Yeah same here." Said the two other goons to one another, looking fairly drunk as well.

The Joker did not appear to be drunk in the slightest bit, and only had two beers so far. Nichole took her second bottle greedily, wishing to feel its calming buzzing effects (since her weed buzz was practically gone).

It would do nothing more than give her energy and make her say things without fully thinking it over, or be more prone to push away someone without giving a second thought about it until the act of it was done.

Yes, it was _very _stupid to have alcohol in her system fully knowing that, that easy irritation and pushy side of her came out, but it was relaxing her. She had nerves all day when she wasn't high. She called herself being selfish yet again, but the alcohol made her feel good. She wanted to be as calm as she could be before having to face the Joker alone in his room.

And hopefully out of it… But not too out of it.

She threw in her remaining money, thinking that after this game was over (and since Jasper and the other two men were going to leave) that the Joker would no longer continue to play and Nichole and him would go off to bed....or at least go upstairs to his room.

The game went by quickly and Nichole had barely time to blink as Jasper won that round out of sheer luck. He grinned taking the winnings in the center. "Sweet man! Think of the things I can get with this!"

Nichole held back laughter as she drowned her second beer. She then felt tensed seeing Jasper stand up and push his chair in as he was preparing to leave. The other two men had left by this point and were heading to the second floor to go to sleep.

She glanced at Jasper and tried to discreetly mouth the words, "Don't leave me with him."

Jasper gave an apologetic look, but handed her another bottle of beer, knowing that it would calm her down more. He then turned on his heel and entered the living room; going up the stairs to his own room.

She wondered absently if he would be listening tonight to whatever may happen upstairs between her and the Joker.

She heard the Joker shuffling the cards up once more and then place them on the table. He leaned back in his seat and stared at Nichole; his hands resting behind his head. "This game was getting a bit boring Nichole. I'm glad everyone left. Now that its just you and me why don't we make it more _in-ter-rest-ting. _How's that sound? Because I doubt that they-" He pointed towards where the others had just left. "-Would like our games. Cause our games are only suited for uh... _us._"

"What do you mean by...interesting?" Nichole asked warily. She did not like the tone he was using with her at all. It sort of reminded her of a "I-know-something-you-don't-know" tone of voice a child would use.

"I'm sure we could...up the antes so to speak. Make it more than just money we are betting." A devilish grin twitched on his face.

"How?" Nichole said as she opened her third bottle.

"Well..." He said in a sing song voice. "Instead of money....if you lose a game...you have to discard one piece of clothing." He licked his lips shifting in his seat so he was sitting closer to her. He wiggled his eyebrows up and down smirking.

She almost choked on her beer before she took a deep breath and wiped her mouth. "...No." she snapped. Her two buzzes made her stronger in her feelings.

"Well if you play....and at least get through five rounds of poker...I can make it worth your while." He sucked on the inside of his scars nodding his head.

"Worth my while? I doubt that. What could you possible offer me that would make me even _think_ to play." Nichole asked before she took another gulp of her beer, staring at the Joker.

"If you get through five rounds at least....you can choose to make a different bet than just clothing. I mean to say....if you choose to make a different bet that game **and** win that game you can have anything you want but within reason and _quid pro quo....._That means....I can get whatever **I** want if I win. Of course once we reach the end of five rounds, you don't even_ have_ to make that final whatever-you-want bet. If you don't want to make that bet when the time comes, then we continue with our..." He faked a cough. "Strip poker. Until there are simply no more articles of clothing left. How does that sound?"

Nichole held in the urge to scream at him. _He just can't get enough can he?_ She thought to herself as she sipped more on her beer. "I still don't want to play at all." She had to blink twice, her vision was started to be slightly blurred in the beginning stages of a buzz. She figured that the men only drank cheap beer here.

"Besides...." she continued, "I am not even wearing five articles of clothing." She tried to sound polite.

She cursed herself for not choosing to wear socks and shoes and hell a winter coat at that. Anything but the simple two undergarments, sweat pants, and tank top she had on. She wished that there had been more laying clothing in the box in his room. If she ended up having to play his poker game, all it would take was four games of her losing and she'd be completely bare.

His games were not fair at all. He had said five rounds too....so what would happen if she lost all five rounds? What would she have to give if she lost on the fifth round and had no more clothes to give? She didn't want to think about that. "I don't want to play." She repeated herself as he silently stared at her, acting as if he had not heard her say it before.

"I'm sorry...I'm a little deaf in this ear. What did you say?" His voice dropped to an dangerous level, and the wild look in his eyes returned. He wasn't going to take no for an answer.

"I-I...I said....." She sunk back in her chair, blowing a puff of air out of her cheek.

She shut her eyes for a moment. "I said.....just deal the fucking cards." She chugged her third bottle of beer, rolling her eyes.

Her buzz would definitely have to help her through this.

He passed her five cards, and she glanced at them. A fairly decent hand, but nothing out of the ordinary. She'd have to swap out two of them. There was no point in putting on a poker face, with just him around: It was already set in stone one of them was going to win each match, and folding was something to not do right now. Giving up was not an option.

She didn't think she could place a straight face on herself, anyways. Being that close to the Joker, running images of last night in her mind toiled with her nerves to the point of breaking down and getting sick from her nervousness. She still could feel growing buzz her beer was giving her, but it was not working at all on her nerves any longer. The pressure she was under to win was all her focus was on.

She swapped out her cards, and could not hide the smirk on her face. She had a full house. Slim chance he could beat it, but it would not surprise her if he did. She wondered if during the previous games he was cheating.

They showed their hands of cards and Nichole bit her lips to hide the now exceeding big smile on her face. She had won round one. She leaned back in her seat, a slight relief filling her every fiber, but then again she knew that this was only one of five games. And after the fifth game would be the sixth which she would have to pray to whatever gods were out there to let her win.

And she still had to think of what she would want if she won that game. He stated that it had to be "within reason" so obviously it had to be something he approved of and would allow her to do. Escape would not be an option, nor would it even be in her best interest at the moment. He would throw her out on the street if she asked for that and he allowed it. Then she'd be back in Arkham...not a great idea. She could ask for a night away from him. To be allowed to sleep on the couch and have no further social interaction with him for the night. It would buy her the dreaded time that he would spend teasing and taunting her for last night's ordeal. But even then, it would just make her nerves build up more than they already were. She thought what she was feeling now was bad....but what if she kept this feeling for the whole next day and it would most likely get worse. No...She wanted to get whatever little "chat" he wanted to have with her about last night over and done with. She would deal and take whatever he asked and threw at her tonight.

But that still left what she could bet against tonight in the sixth game, because she certainly was not going to pass up that deal and be forced to continue a game of strip poker. But then again....If she lost that sixth game...She did not want to think about what he would want if _he_ won.

She then figured out what she wanted.

To see Gordon.

_Just play for Gordon, Nichole. Play for Gordon… This might be the only chance you will be allowed to see him._ She told herself, encouragingly.

Though she doubted the Joker would allow her request.

"Well...Nichole? Are you listening to me?" The Joker said, pulling her from her inner thoughts.

"Huh?" She said automatically without thinking. She glanced over at him and furrowed a brow.

"I _said-dah_....What are you waiting for?" He had pushed his chair back so there was space between him and the table, enough for someone to stand there.

"What?" She asked, utterly confused.

He sighed and rolled his eyes, focusing on the ceiling as he spoke. "I lost this match and so you have to-..." He set his eyes back down on her and flashed a grin.

Nichole's face twisted in disgust. "Um...Aren't you supposed to do it yourself? And...you don't even have to...I know you didn't make us play this for you to lose and have to um-..."

"Well what fun is to be had in that Nichole? I am going to play along just as you are. Rules are equal for us. And you seem to know an awful lot about this game...Played it before have we?" The Joker inquired tilting his head like a dog.

"No.." She lied. "I haven't. I just have...seen it on TV. I mean-" That came incredibly out wrong. "I mean I have seen it in sitcoms and stuff....not like pornos and.... ugh." She lightly tapped her head on the table, seeing there was no way she could say it without her words being able to be twisted by him.

"Well.... That is not important really." He said while holding back his laughter in his throat. "What's important is...you get to chose what to take off of me. Now tell me darlin' do you think I should purposely throw a few games just so you can get your hands all over me? Because really-" He reached over and grabbed her by the back of her neck pulling her face close to his. "-Last night you were fine with my hands all over you. Don't you think it's time to return the favor?" He sent his warm breath on her face.

She felt herself blush once more. He released his grip on her neck, and she sat as far away as she could from him. She rubbed the back of her neck nervously, while he straightened himself up in his chair. "You have my sincerity apology." He faked sounding sorry while placing a hand over his heart. "I do believe I said we would discuss that later tonight...and not now....Now where were we? Oh yes!" He snapped his fingers. "You were just about to pick your target of choice." He beamed flexing his fingers out on his lap.

"Are you waiting for the earth to stop moving or what Nichole?" He was growing impatient that she was not playing his "game" with him. He really wasn't going to do anything over the top while down here in the kitchen; he just _loved _to mess with her.

Anger boiled inside of her.

She pushed herself up with her hands on the table. "Fine! You know what? Whatever!" She walked over in front of his sitting form and decided his tie would be the thing to take off of him. It wasn't in a risqué spot nor did it involve much touching of his bare skin at the moment. She felt his eyes all over her as she reached forward pulling the slag of the tie out from underneath his vest. She worked on the knot of the tie as he remained staring at her face the entire time.

Finally the tie was loose and she was able to remove it from his neck. She let it fall on his lap. "Happy?" She asked irritated.

"Happy...Isn't the word." He grinned, wiggling his eyebrows up and down once more.

Another game was played and this time Nichole was the one who lost. Her hand holding absolutely no value at all. She let out a deep breath as she braced herself. _Well you can't win them all. _She tried to sound convincing to herself and give herself hope.

The Joker stood up and tapped his chin looking down at her. "Hmm...Choices...Choices."

She stared at his green vest chalked in a slight coverage of dirt. "Just...get it over with."

"Straight to the point tonight are we?" The Joker chuckled as he eyed her up and down.

"Yeah...I am. And again: you know what?" She reached at the hem of her tank-top and pulled it up over her head and threw it off of her. She spread her arms and pointed to herself. "There ya go! Did your job for you!" She was sick of this shit. She had put up with him for long enough, and if he tried to take off her tank top he'd just pull the same stunt as last night. He'd do it in a slow and prolonged manner. She just wanted this whole night to be over and done with.

She _knew_ that the drinks in her system were helping add to her irritated state and fury.

He sat back down scrunching his nose for a moment. "You just like to take the fun out of games don't ya?"

"I was never a fan of games. People always cheat in them." She rolled her eyes.

"I am offended. I haven't cheated once!" He truly did sound offended.

"But you most certainly have bent the rules in your favor." She stated.

He ran his tongue over his lips placing his elbows on the table. "See...That's where you are wrong. I don't think I have done that. I merely made it more interesting for us _both-tah._"

She was too buzzed to care about what he was saying.

And with that another game was played. Nichole lost that round again and her pants were the next item to be sacrificed. He allowed her to take it off herself, seeing she was not going to let him touch her at all. She noticed during the next two games he would glance at her body many times. For once she did not feel embarrassed to be in only her bra and undergarments, but more or less irritated and slightly awkward. As long as she didn't lose another game.

The next two were in her favor and she won, thanking the lord for it. The only thing she hated was having to shed the Joker of his vest and shirt at the end of those two games. He stood up both times to allow her easy access to his vest and shirt. The process of unbuttoning his blue undershirt took a longer than expected time and the Joker seemed to enjoy that fact, his smile growing as she got further down his shirt.

To annoy her even more, he slipped one hand behind her back and twirled a blonde lock of her long hair with his finger.

She slapped his hand away. "Hands off." She muttered.

The five games were up and now she had a choice. To make this "Whatever-you-want-within-reason" bet or to continue the strip poker until-....

"I want to make that bet now." Nichole stated, her mind made up and going against strip poker.

The Joker's grin started to slowly fade as he shuffled the cards. "Oh but why? We were having so much fun with this game Nichole and really it would only be two more losses by you till we'd be done, since you only have two things left on you....And After all you don't even know what my bet would be in this other game we are playing. You don't know how good or bad it could be." He said in a smooth velvet like voice.

"I'll take my chances." Nichole looked at him in the corner of her eye.

He sucked on his bottom lip absently. "So what are you wanting if you win?" He glided the cards back and forth between his hands shuffling.

"I want to be able to meet with Gordon. Face to face, for at least ten minutes."

The Joker did not act surprised by her request, but she figured he was since his next statement was, "Is that really what you want Nichole? I am rather shocked. I was half expecting you to ask to sleep on the couch tonight away from your personal monster. After all I do remember last time we played a game with bets was a long time ago when you had to make me entertained for that night and cook for me. That night...that was the thing you were playing for. Immunity from me. Don't you want that now?" He teased. He did not sound serious at all nor did he sound like he was trying to persuade her into changing her mind. He sounded more or less curious as to why she chose to say she wanted to see Gordon rather than be away from him, or hell anything.

But if she had asked if she could escape and leave forever, he might have laughed himself to tears....

"I...I just want to see him. He is one of the few that believed me and stood by me when Candy took over and throughout the ordeal. I just want to see him once more. Tell him I am alright and he should stop worrying about me." She sighed, thinking of the look on Gordon's face at the trial and in the interrogation room. She missed him.

"You are 'alright' Nichole? If I were him....I'd have every right to be worried about you. Because you are not alright Nichole...You are craaaaaazy." He tapped his finger on the side of her head twice before erupting in a laughing spree.

She shooed his finger off her head. "I know that. Do you not think I am fully aware that I am insane? I should just be thankful I am not as crazy as-" She stopped herself.

_Nichole...SHUT THE HELL UP!_ She told herself. _You finish that sentence he will kill you. Stop it._

"As crazy as...What Nichole?" The Joker eyed her up and down irritation growing plainly on his face.

Nichole quickly lied. "As crazy as Candy is."

The Joker simply nodded and dealt the cards.

_Phew that was close. You need to hold your tongue tonight!_ Nichole thought to herself as the sweat from her brow dripped a bit. She wiped it quickly and sighed. She did not know if he believed her, but he was acting as if he did and that was all that mattered.

She picked up her five cards and cringed seeing they were not good at all. "So...What do you get if you win?" She asked, debating on if she should try to back out now and return to strip poker. It would take three new cards all in the heart suit to have a decent hand, and even then it would require the Joker's hand to be a fairly bad one.

The Joker licked his lips, forming his mouth into a fake pout for a moment before glancing up from the cards in his hands to meet Nichole's unregistering eyes. "That is for me to know...and you to find out if you lose." He chuckled.

_Oh shit...This doesn't look good._

"We will just see." Nichole challenged trying her best to sound confident. If she lost faith, luck would not be on her side when she swapped her three cards out for three new ones. But then again...luck was really never on her side to begin with.

The Joker looked up from his hand again, resting his chin on his hand. "Nichole you need to learn to control your eyes. They give away everything. Every emotion and feeling inside of you plays in your eyes all the time. Just another reason I told you you should learn to sleep with your eyes open. It entertains me to read into them, and figure out the little emotions inside of you. Like right now...You are nervous....because your cards are not as good as your voice is trying to tell me they are."

He grinned as she tensed in her seat, in shock he could read her so well. He was even more amused that he had caught her and called her out on her faked confidence and she was unable again to hide her emotions. Her eyes projected every emotion so well to him, like a clear digital camera.

They swapped out their cards, Nichole hesitant to flip and see the three new cards coming into her hand. She nearly jumped for joy right then and there as each of the cards in her hand were of the heart suit and gave her a decent enough hand to have a chance against whatever the Joker held.

She hoped that his sorry ass could see the emotion in her eyes now; the pure joy and hopefulness in them.

He didn't though. He was too focused on his hand staring at it with most intently. She could not read his expression, so she did not know if his hand was good or bad.

Maybe he _was_ good at using a Poker face and she never noticed.

It was time to show each other their cards. Moment of truth.

She lowered her hand first, staring at the mocking red cards in front of her. They could either make it or break it. She crossed her fingers under the table as the Joker turned his cards on the table making no sound at all.

Nichole looked immediately at his cards and screamed on this inside. It felt like the butterflies in her stomach were set free and flying around her; surrounding her in a blur of colors and light.

She had WON!

His hand was just one value under hers making him the loser!

She felt like she had just done the impossible.

A smile curved on her face as she flashed her teeth. She let out a happy sigh as she realized what she in fact had just won (or at least hopefully if he let her). She was going to be able to see Gordon again and not to mention she would be escaping....whatever he had in mind if _he_ had won the game. She pushed those "what if" thoughts away as she leaned back in her chair, not giving a damn she was only in her underclothing. The smile did not even fade when she felt the Joker's eyes on her. She was living fully in this moment of bliss. Luck had for once graced her with its presence.

"Lucky hand." The Joker sounded as if he was a bit disappointed he had lost.

"Very much so." Nichole, tried to sound too excited and in a tone that would make him think she was rubbing it in his face she had (which by all means she _wanted_ to, but knew he would just cut the deal now if she were to be a "sore sport" in his eyes).

"Well...This is disappointing...If I had won, it would have just been so much fun what I would make you do. Too bad...." He titled his head towards her sucking on his bottom lip. "Unless of course you still want to do whatever it is I am thinking right now."

"I'd prefer not to, and even at that...I'd prefer not to know what is on your mind." Nichole said politely.

He shrugged. "Oh well." He didn't sound like he actually cared, but then again he was probably faking it.

"So...When do I get to see Gordon?" Nichole asked. She wanted to see if he was sticking to his word.

"Until you lighten up Nichole and rid yourself of the tone you have been using on me tonight...I am not entirely sure." He teased. He paused for a moment standing up and putting his bluish gray shirt back on, but not bothering to button it up. He fixed the collar of his shirt as he peered down at her. "Sooner or later." He nodded. "Sooner or later...You won fair and uh...square. So face to face with the Commissioner is what you will get. But...Of course I'll be there. Can't have you running off with him now could I?" He smirked, "I might be there sitting with you two or just listening in. Either way...when the time comes." He tugged at the bottom of his shirt straightening it.

"Are...You telling me the truth?" Nichole looked at him innocently. She had strong doubts that this deal would ever go through.

"Have I ever steered you wrong yet?" He stated. "Now...Nichole. Go upstairs. Wait for me to return to my room. Don't even think about trying to fall asleep, because I will just wake you up." He grinned. "We have things to discuss in privacy. Sure no one is down here at the moment, but you never know when someone will just walk in...So this table is no place to discuss the things I want to talk about with you." He was looking as smug as ever.

A shiver ran up her spine. _He is just...so demanding._ She thought to herself.

She knelt over to reach for her shirt and pants, but the Joker leaned down faster and swiped them away holding them tightly in his hand. "You can get these back later. Now go upstairs. I have a little cleaning up to do."

That statement confused her, but she held in her confusion from dancing on her face. _Cleaning up? Him? Oh he can't be cleaning up. He doesn't give two shits about cleanliness....I don't wanna know what he is really doing. I honestly do not wanna know. He's probably got a dead body in his van he needs to chop up or some other shit. Ugh the lunatic._

She shot him one last glare before standing up, adjusting her underclothing to make sure it was covering everything before walking towards the kitchen threshold leading to the living room area. The Joker's voice stopped her, but she did not turn towards him as he spoke. "I'll be up in fifteen minutes _sweetheart-tah_." He then erupt in a laughing fit.

He was acting as if they were married or something. The nerve of him.

She left the kitchen and as soon as she was out of the Joker's eye sight she started to speed up her walking into a slight jog up. She went up the stairs and tried to basically run up all two sets of them, not wanting to run into anyone in the current attire she had on.

Just with her luck though, as she reached the second floor landing and was heading up to the third floor, she ran smack into a person. "A-....I am SO sorry- Jasper!" Nichole's mouth hung open. She immediately crossed her arms across her chest to further cover up her bra covered breasts.

Jasper was holding a bottle of liquor. His mouth was hung open as he eyed what she was wearing up and down. "I-...I don't wanna know…" he said, quickly taking a swig of his bottle. He then rubbed his eyes under his glasses and looked down and her again. "I thought I would. But I don't." He smirked, "Psh... 'playing poker' my ass!"

Jasper also burst out laughing when he saw Nichole's staggering movements; he knew she was slightly intoxicated even more than she was last time he saw her about half an hour ago.

She groaned. "Correction: Strip Poker… He came up with the ingenious idea." She rolled her eyes with irritation. "But I will explain to you that situation later. Other than that, nothing happened...well...not yet." Her eyes saddened. "He wants to "talk" to me tonight. So most likely whatever happens, you will be able to hear the whole bloody thing."

Jasper bit his tongue. "Then I guess I am going to have to put some ear plugs in, cause if its a repeat of last night I won't be sleeping any time soon." He joked, but saw how nervous she was so stopped himself from joking even more. "Hey...Girl don't worry. Best case scenario he really just talks to you tonight and that's it. Chin up." He faked socking her one in the chin, by lightly tapping his fist on her chin.

"Heh...." She droned her words. "Let's hope your right. I don't want make you deaf." She joked. How funny Jasper had the quality to get Nichole to joke about her dangerous situation. It must be one of the reasons they could get along so well.

He nodded. "Yeah...Cause last night. I considered taking a broom and tapping my ceiling with it and yelling "Keep it down" but heh I'd be dead right now if I did that." He winked. "Well I gotta go grab some water; I got a major headache from all the weed man."

Nichole burst out laughing, "And of course you are drinking Captain Morgan while you say that."

Curiosity came over Nichole. "Oh hey Jasper...The Joker said he'd be upstairs with me in fifteen minutes, and said he'd be downstairs "cleaning up"....but that's not really what he is doing is he?"

"He is cleaning up." Jasper said in a serious tone.

Nichole raised an eyebrow. "Really?" She asked shocked.

"Yeah. He got two dead bodies in the van. He has to clean the blood of the seats and sides of the van. It be kinda noticeable if the van was going down the streets with big patches of blood on it."

"Oh...I am so sorry I asked." She groaned. _Great...He will be cleaning blood...and then coming upstairs to lay next to me and most likely touch me.. _She could not help the following phrase coming from her mouth. It was something her mind simply needed to be said aloud. "Ugh...Germs." She shuddered.

This was another thing she liked about Jasper. She could tell him how she really felt about something and express the things she always kept bottled up. She was happy she found a friend in the depressing warehouse filled with lunatics. But then again...Jasper must be a tad bit crazy. Having lost his love Derek...She knew how he felt. It was an emotion that could make one go _insane. _But still...he seemed to nice to be working for the Joker, but hey she wasn't going to complain.

"Clean freak?" He inquired laughing softly.

She rolled her eyes and held out her hand. "Okay, that's enough from you. Now I would really appreciate if you gave me some of that nice Captain Morgan, because I know I am going to need to be more intoxicated in order to get through this night. And you owe me from your little cracks and jokes you said at the table."

Jasper grinned, "No problem." When he handed Nichole the bottle, Nichole quickly drank some of it like water.

"Woah! WOAH!" Jasper grabbed her shoulder's when she leaned over, trying to catch her breath. Her mouth was burning. "Be easy on that!"

She looked up at him with watery eyes and grinned "I forgot how to take shots... It's been a while since college." She then plugged her nose with one hand, so she wouldn't have to stand the bear taste of the liquor, and then drank a large amount, stopping a few times to take breaths.

Jasper went wide-eyed when she handed back the now quarter full bottle of liquior. "Damn girl… You and I should drink more often! Anyways I gotta go grab some water. But I am sure I'll be hearing you tonight." He coughed and then laughed as he headed to the first floor.

"Oh shut up!" Nichole hissed playfully.

She walked up to the remaining stairs and into the third floor hallway. She staggered as she walked, the hallway seemed to be on a little bit of a slant. When she opened the door, the light in the bathroom and the lamp on the table on the side of the bed was still on.

She shut the door silently after she got in the Joker's room and rushed over to the closet looking through the remaining clothes and putting on another pair of sweatpants and a short sleeve shirt. There was no way in hell she was going to lay next to him in nothing but her underclothing. It would tempt him so much.

She couldn't help but smile stupidly as she headed over to the bathroom, her vision was starting to get slightly blurry and she was happy that the liquor was working quickly on her.

Most people say that one always gets sick from drinking beer before liquor, but for some reason Nichole's stomach was able to manage it.

She relieved herself and brushed her teeth quickly to get rid of the taste of alcohol.

Her mind first panicked when she realized that the Joker was going to be able to tell that she was going to be drunk (her impulsive mind didn't permit her to think about that beforehand). She shook the worry off of her quickly, she knew that if she remained sober for the night, that the true wrath of pure reality, with no distraction, would torture her.

She then remembered something Jasper told her today, _"You gotta look forward into the future or hell just look at the present. The matter at hand ha ha."_

She had to look at the present...Not the future, whether it be the coming minutes or hell coming hours that the Joker had in store for her, whatever he was going to talk to her about. She had to look at the matter at hand. And the matter at hand was keeping her oral hygiene in tack. Once she was done, she placed the toothbrush she had claimed for herself back on the counter and walked back into the bedroom.

She looked at the bed and couldn't help the small amount of bile rising from her throat. Her becoming drunken mind was able to review the entire ordeal of last night almost chimerically. At the time, what he did may have felt good and pleasing to her body, but just the thought of it made her sick to her stomach.

Nichole sighed and walked slowly to the bed and climbed into it on top of the covers. She wasn't even going to bother to pretend to be asleep, she just wanted to get this talk over with. She then felt the sudden wave of confidence in her as she laid on her back and stared at the cracks on the ceiling.

_I can do this, I can do this._

Her heart was pounding in her ears again, shortly after her confidence wave.

As a means of distracting herself, she lifted up her hands in front of her. When ever she was drunk, she always found her hands to be amusing. She could control every movment of her hands at the moment and she savored it. She thought back to the times the Joker would take away her control of her hands when he would pin her wrists down… and when he forced her hand to touch him in the shower…

She quickly shook herself out of that thought; right now, she had control. She swayed them back and forth to prove that to herself.

She then began to feel dread and sadness.

What if she would control all of the events in her life just like she can control the movements of her hands?

Suddenly her ear drums were able to focus on a small sound that was different from the low hum of televisions and music playing softly on the second floor below her. No...This sound was evenly spaced and getting slowly louder as the seconds past. Finally after the sound was coming more into focus, was her mind able to make the connection as to what that sound was.

Footsteps slowly making their way up the stairs.

She crossed her fingers that they would fade on the second floor and it was just another one of his henchmen or hell even Jasper returning up to his room, but the hair on the back of her neck stood up upon hearing the footsteps continue past the second floor stairs and up towards the third floor. He was taking his damn sweet time walking up too.

The footsteps were now echoing in her head. They had reached the hallway and were heading towards the door. Each step, her pupils would dilate. His shoes hitting the floor outside in the hallway were menacing to her. The fact the mere sounds he made without thinking could have such a nerve racking affect on her was so unbearable.

The door handle was being turned, and his footsteps stopped as he reached the door. Nichole quickly turned to her side and remained with her eyes open and staring at the wall, as she heard the door open slowly and then close. She was once again able to feel the very presence of him in the room with her.

"Nichooooooole" The Joker chimed in a sing songy voice. "The night is young so you better be wide awake. You don't want to waste the night."

She didn't respond, but he knew she was awake.

She could hear him moving about in the room. She was almost surprised to hear him enter the bathroom instead of immediately joining her. She closed her eyes in relief that she had a few extra minutes alone without him.

She heard him then after a few minutes flick the bathroom light off and kick off his shoes. It wasn't until she felt him slide into the bed, did she hold her breath to hide her nerves.

She felt the weight in the bed shift as he shuffled. She could tell, from his movements, that he was sitting up, facing her back and looking down at her.

She snapped her eyes shut and her heart pounded in her ears.

_Just get the talking over with._ She thought to herself. _Nichole calm yourself down. You know perfectly well what he is doing. He's prolonging the time it takes for him to talk to you, because he knows you are nervous. Just relax. Maybe he won't even say anything tonight and all that talk downstairs was just to make you feel uncomfortable._

Suddenly she felt his hand start to slide across her waist. He rested his hand on her stomach for a moment, still looking down at her, his fingernails scratching at the shirt she was wearing as if in some gesture that he was confused and irritated she put clothing back on, and then his hand slowly started to slide upwards towards her breast. His hand slowly slide up to her fleshy mound, trying to be as innocent as he could in the act of doing it.

Nichole rolled her eyes. "Oh stop it!" She rolled over and reached her hand down and grabbed his hand forcing it down off of her chest.

"Nichole, please be honest with me… Can you not stand being around me while you are sober?"

_Oh shit! He knows I've been drinking!_

Before she could react, the Joker laughed in his throat spastically and suddenly started to run his fingers in a fast motion on her sides near her stomach. She shrieked as she realized what he was doing. It caught her by complete surprise as laughter started coming involuntarily from her mouth.

He was _tickling_ her....

Now Nichole would be the first to tell you that she was a very ticklish person. All through life she had been. Tickling if done for a long span of time though, caused Nichole to start to scream loudly for a person to stop. It was a very uncomfortable feeling. Sure, it was something that caused her to laugh, but also caused her breathing to be out of rhythm.

She tried to scoot towards the wall, and bat away his fingers from her stomach. Even though her wasn't touching her bare stomach, it still felt very ticklish. As soon as she tried to scoot away, he laid his hand flat on her stomach and pulled her body back, pressing her back into his chest, and then returned to tickling her sides.

The cracks on the wall budged in and out towards her as she shuffled, trying to get away from his tickling hands. She was giggling very loudly at the moment.

"Being feisty tonight are we? Actually all down there, you were acting very tense! You need to loosen _up-pah._" He mused, picking up viciously on his tickling attack on her sides.

Nichole's rear and lower back automatically stuck outward towards him as she tried to push her upper body forward, in a sort of way that could scrunch up her stomach area, leaving his hand powerless and stuck. But the Joker was a tricky one. He leaned his upper body against hers, scrunching into the same position as her, fitting against her body like a puzzle piece would.

If one were to look at them they may look like they were spooning.

"L-Let go!" Nichole screamed out, as her laughter became more strained and louder. She was actually starting to sweat from all of her struggling. She could not help the screaming and shrieking laughter that left her mouth. Her body started to twitch in attempts to escape his grip. Her screaming and laughter seemed to motivate him to get rougher. It felt like he was tickling her so hard, her lungs started to hurt from her spastic breathing patterns. The bed spun under them as she writhed in pains of laughter.

Her lungs felt like they were being crushed by her rib cage. Her gut felt like it was bleeding on the inside.

She desperately tried to pull his hands off of her sides, but he was not going to stop. She started shifting her upper torso about and then finally decided the best way to get him to stop would be to pin his arms down by his side. She turned her whole body so she would be facing him, all the while fighting his hands off her sides with her laughing. The laughter was not only coming from her, but a sick twisted one was escaping his mouth.

He knew he was causing her pain through this small act of tickling. Well....not exactly pain. Just extreme discomfort, but he knew she would be very upset by the fact she was laughing at his actions. Not a willing laugh, but an automatic one.

Nichole was able to fight her way so she was slightly up, and then she turned herself so she was on top of him, while he was forced on his back laying on the bed; staring up at her still tickling her sides manically.

"A ha ha! N-N-No! Ha Ha! S-ssstop! Stop ha ha IT!" She looked down at him, and could see he did not take off his face paint and the creepy aura his makeup gave off caused her to freeze for a moment in her laughter. She could also feel that his shirt was off as her arms could feel the bareness of his chest. She felt his pants still on though underneath her.

She had her fingernails digging deeply into his two hands, to try to get him to stop, but he did not cease the accursed tickling. If pain was not working, she'd have to pin him down.

As tears of laughter started to form in the brim of her eyes, she managed enough strength (or he lessened up on his force) and she was able to pin his hands to his sides. She leaned her upper body off of his, as her hands held onto his wrist on either side pinning them down.

She felt him trying to move his arms back up, but her hold on him was strong. Her breathing started to slowly go back to normal and she had to blink a few times to clear her vision of the water that had built up in them. His blurry figure moved back and forth. He was breathing slightly heavily too, from _his_ laughter. He enjoyed causing her to be so uncomfortable.

So being the fine gentlemen he was, he decided to start to make her feel even more uncomfortable.

"You know...." He started grinning at her with his hair falling back and bunched up on the pillow his head was laying on. "This position is kinda similar to the one from last night...except you weren't drunk, you were not the one laughing, and you moaned someone else's name." He licked his lips, his face starting to fade its amused expression and start to form a serious one.

Nichole caught her breath. She knew he would start to at one point or another start a conversation about last night, but him saying she moaned someone else's name was not something she expected him to say. She didn't remember doing such an act. "What are you talking about?" She sweared that the pillow he was laying on was starting to tilt on its own.

"Yanno Nichole, I was having a great time last night. I really was. And really...I was right when I told Ariel that you are quite the devil in the sack, but I must say I was rather disappointed that at one point you were picturing someone else in my place. It may not have bugged me if you had kept it to yourself...But the fact you moaned his name out...Well that was a kick below the _belt-tah_."

"I didn't-" She began, but it was at that moment something hit her.

She saw herself last night on top of the Joker. He was grunting under her and she was into the moment, her head tilting back and mouth hanging open.

She then remembered that she pictured Tom underneath her.

Then as stars formed before her eyes as she climaxed and a single phrase came out. A phrase that she knew would cause the Joker to grow very angry.

_Oh.....Tom._

She gasped out loud, the grip she had on his arms loosened as she felt very limp above him as she swayed side to side slightly. If things were not awkward enough, the fact she had just found out in the middle of last night she moaned out her dead best friend's name that the Joker despises just made everything **so **much worse.

_This can't be happening. _She thought to herself. She glanced down at him, and he was not smiling. He didn't show a hint of amusement at all.

Her drunkenness had made him seem more terrifying than he already truly was with his makeup on… Her drunken mind panicked and panicked. Nichole tried to shift her body to the right to attempt to get off of him and off the left side of the bed. She felt embarrassed and scared to her stomach and her nerves were too much to handle.

"You're not going anywhere." He said in a serious tone of voice.

He suddenly was able to overpower her limp hands that were holding down his wrists as she tried to get off of him, and he wrapped one of his arms around her waist and the other around her back; tightly gripping her and forcing her to remain put on top of him. He tried to force her body down so her upper body would be laying on his chest, but she brought her hands up and pushed in an opposite forced against his chest.

The stalemate they were in caused her upper body to be crushing into her elbows and arms, blocking her chest and stomach from fully touching his chest, but her face was inches from his. She tilted her head back as best she could, looking at him with drunken wavering eyes that desperately tried to concentrate.

"Yes I am!" She grunted, trying to wiggle her way out of his iron grasp. "Please let me go!"

"No you are not. We have things to talk about. I can't have you leaving in the middle of our conversation." He nodded his head slightly, the sound of his hair brushing against the pillow echoed in her ears even after the sound faded. "Last night I didn't bring it up you moaned his name. You wanna know why Nichole? Because I saw you didn't realize you said it yourself and I wanted to see if you would realize you did it yourself sometime today, but I guess you didn't in all that time you were spending with Jasper today."

Her eyes widened.

_He knew..._

He started laughing at her reaction and nodded his head, this time viciously. "Oh yes yes yes Nichole! I knooooow that today you were not upstairs all day by your little lonesome. Don't take me for a fool to believe that… as soon as I saw you stagger downstairs with your hazy eyes that Jasper had _something _to do with that… But we can get to that later...Right now we aren't talking about what you did today. We are talking about what you did _yesterday._.."

She remained silent. Her eyes were half open.

"Yanno, at first I was furious when I saw Jasper heading downstairs with a half empty bottle of alcohol… I knew he hadn't drunken it himself and I figured that since you kept downing the beers downstairs that you DEFINITELY had something to do with that-tuh." He grinned, "I was hoping you would want to have this conversation sober, but now I think you in your intoxicated mind is very entertaining."

He was growing irritated. "You don't know how much it was a shock to my ear drums when you said his name Nichole. You may have noticed my sudden anger last night come on so quickly. Since you did not remember saying his name...I could see the utter confusion in your eyes when I was angry." He chimed.

"I...I didn't know." Nichole slurred honestly.

"Of course you didn't. And now that you have realized it...what have you got to say for yourself?" His tone was now unrecognizable to her. It was one she couldn't remember him ever using with her. It was a mix between anger, rage, and then...something else. Almost a jealous tone? She could not figure it out, nor was she going to spend her wandering time thinking about what tone of voice he was using. She wanted to spend her time right now thinking of the right words to form into sentences to speak to him, which seemed impossible.

"I-....I-...." She looked at his chest which was a few inches from her face. Her neck was beginning to hurt from holding it (and her upper body) up so it would not be touching his chest.

She decided to be truthfully honest. "I don't know what to say and I don't think anything that I can say won't make you mad and hurt me."

He took what she said into consideration. "You're probably right. But still....Everything was fine last night until you decided to picture someone else in my position." Oh yes. He was very irritated. "Hopefully my reaction gave you a reminder of who you were really, excuse my French, fucking." His lip curled, exposing the top set of his yellow teeth.

That made her realize he was very _very _angry. He never swore around her ever. She had never even heard him say anything like that. She knew he was so mad.

He truly looked like a monster.

Her face was shaking as his eyes bore into hers. She tried, with pitiful effort, to move her body off of him. She was able to sit up, so she was just straddling his waist, but he kept her secured on him by holding her wrists to his chest, preventing her from trying to move off of him.

He then burst out in demonic laughter in his anger as he just realized something. "You know," he grinned, "This **is** the **exact** position you were in before this.. 'miscommunication' incident happened. I know you are out of it right now Nichole, but do you remember? As soon as I placed you on me, you tried to act like that innocent person you wish you were, the one you were when Tom was around… You covered your chest up. You hated being exposed and out in the open for me to look up at you." He chuckled, tracing his eyes over her chest before he looked back up in her eyes again. "Remember how I took your hands away and held them to my chest like this? Well after I let go of them, you never once brought them back up to your chest again as you danced in the moonlight… Now why was that, Nichole? Were you picturing your Tommy under you, staring at yourself the entire time? Or was it that after you got more into it? You KNEW it was me staring at every part of you… but you loved that feeling of my eyes on you cause you knew you were committing your own sin.." He smacked his lips. "Theeennn… you pictured Tom in my place.. is that right?! Oh come on! Tell me!"

Nichole let out an agitated scream, her breath growing heavy in anger. "Why do you even keep me?! Why don't you just fucking kill me if I anger you all the time?! What's the point anymore!?"

She didn't care if he slapped her for saying that. She wanted an answer to that question and she wanted it now. It was one question that would cross her mind so very often. Why did he keep her? She had served her purpose of corrupting Gotham. Now that it was done, he could dispose of her.

He remained silent. His breaths leaving his mouth the only thing she could hear (besides her own breaths of course). She clenched her jaw, as she tried to tear her hands away from his chest; this time she succeeded and started to move off of the Joker.

"Stop." He demanded, wrapping his arms back around her back and pulling her back on him, tightening his grip on her. He then placed one hand on the back of her head and pressed her head into his chest.

She sniffled, feeling tears demanding to come out of her eyes, but she held them at bay. "What do you want from me?" She said in almost a whisper. Even in her drunken mind, she knew the exact question that she wanted him to answer.

She was trying to push her head off his chest, but his hand was putting too much pressure on her head, preventing her from any movements. Her nose was being mushed into his chest. She feared if she started crying all her bodily fluids would end up on him and he would suggest another shower.

What surprised her next was the hand on the back of her head, tightened and dragged her head up close to his mouth. She let out a silent shriek of pain. He placed her ear directly on top of his lip as he whispered in a husky seductive voice "I want to make it so I am on your mind every moment of every day. I want to corrupt you; I want to devour you." He licked his lips, "I want to do away with you like an animal and feel you from the inside."

She dug her nails into his chest as she tried to push off him again. "You are sick to think I would ever reach that point in my mind. I do think about you everyday… and those are thoughts about how much I fucking loath you and all of the ways I want to kill you!" she spoke through her teeth.

He pushed her ear back down to his lip. She could feel him smiling against it. "Then why did you want me last night? Huh?" He laughed, "Because… You, Nichole....you were aware it was me most of the time, except for that one little incident, and yet you were welcoming me into you. You wanted me and wanted exactly what I wanted from you… Explain that for me dear. I'm dying to know." He emphasized every "T" in his sentences, prolonging his speech so every word was taken into her ear and delivered in such a way that would make Nichole's spine shudder involuntarily.

"You know why...." Nichole spat.

"That may be true...but I want to hear you say it Nichole." He was smiling smugly against her ear at this point.

Nichole mumbled her answer. She was embarrassed about last night's ordeal and the fact that he wanted her to state that he was pleasuring her last night and she loved the feelings he gave her. He knew it all, but hearing her say it was something that would send her on an emotional roller coaster of turmoil.

"Sorry Nichole I can't hear you. Here...how about you get closer." The Joker mused. He tightened his grip on the back of her head and pushed her face so it was to the left of his head. Then he tilted her head with his hand so that her mouth was by _his_ ear. He smashed her mouth right against it. "Tell me Nichole. I want to hear it loud and clear. What brought on such an act that you submitted yourself to me willingly?"

_I fucking hate him...._

She was shaking in anger.

"You were..." Blush stained her cheeks as she began. "Being less rough than normal and...-" She decided to say something other than what she was going to say. Something that would cause him to be disappointed and hopefully lay off the questioning to her. "-it was Candy's pleasure. She took every ounce of pleasure she was getting through what you were doing and sending it to me. It overpowered me. She was in control....not me" Nichole lied. Nichole had been in control during it, but if she said that...

She was able to get her face away from his ear and lean her head up. He forced it to hover above his though, as he was not letting go of the back of her head. She tried her best to keep her eyes open.

He gripped the strands of hair he had intertwined between his fingers. "No...Do not lie to me. It was your pleasure. You were in control. I could see _everything_ in your eyes; your hate, your sadness, your humiliation, and yet, your lust. You were crying because it was you feeling it. You did not want to believe I could give you such a feeling." He was furious. "So now you lie to me; to hide your selfish, sinful admitions." He licked his lips.

Nichole could not look down at his face any longer. Her face broke as tears fell over the brim of her eyes. She turned her face away from him and towards the blank wall to the left of her. She prayed the wall would suck her up from this turmoil of reality.

He brought the hand that was on her back, holding her on top of him, up to her cheek and forced her to look at him. He took the hand off of the back of her head and now used that hand on her back keeping her pinned to him. He held her chin between his thumb and index finger and brought it closer to his. It felt like he was soon going to rip her jaw out in his iron grip. He sent his breath on her face before he spoke.

"Nichole....Can you honestly tell me that there was no part of you that enjoyed last night?" And for the first time when he asked a question, it sounded like he really wanted to know the answer to it.

There was no way getting out of it. "No...I cannot." She finally admitted. The room was spinning.

He looked up at her, in her eyes. He saw that she was being honest. This made him all the more happy. He grinned, stoking his thumb across her cheek, roughly. The tears glistened in her eyes as he saw he was causing her pain.

"See? Was that so hard? Now that _that_ is out of the way, we have another important issue to discuss. You were not in this room all day...correct?"

She shut her eyes, not wanting to look at him at the moment. "I just...didn't want to be cooped up all day." Nichole mumbled.

He noticed she must have forgotten she was on top of him for the time being, because she was not attempting to get off of him.

"What did you do today? I want to hear it all...no details left unsaid."

"I....I really did nothing. I just was downstairs for breakfast and then Jasper and I struck up a conversation and we hung out. That's all."

He rolled his eyes. "In all that time you spent smoking the day away did you happen to catch the news?"

She fell silent for a moment. "Yes...I did. You...You killed them for me?"

"Oh honestly Nichole you are so conceited. You have to learn this world is not all about you. The reason I killed them was not for you, but because it was a great opportunity to show Gotham how corrupt it is. It just so happens that you provided the opportunity. It just so happens that you end up being the ace in my plan. But in no way was that news airing _just_ for you and your issues. Like yesterday...you think that shower was _just_ all about you. Well again you are wrong. I actually needed one so i could go undercover to break into Arkham and grab those two doctors. They heightened security once I busted you out of there, so I actually had to show my hair and face. Therefore I had to look clean and cover my scars with the similar _substance-sah...._ to what you used a while back. And also....it was for _my_ needs...not yours." He ran a finger on her J scar.

She scowled at him, before remembering something about this morning and wanted to ask him. If she had not been drunk, she would never have to guts to do so. "And....this morning I found something of yours while I was looking for cloths." She squinted her eyes for a second. "I found photographs of me...when I was away from you for those months."

He raised an eyebrow before laughing. "You're a little brown nose. You are going through my things now?"

She rolled her eyes "I was looking for something to wear...sorry." She didn't want to upset him. "But why did you get Jasper to follow me and take pictures of me?" She could barely keep her eyes open as she talked.

"Because." He shrugged underneath her. "I wanted to see how you were-" He coughed, "-coping and if you were even still alive. Once I escaped I didn't want to go after something if I didn't know it was alive and well. Besides...I was curious even at that. We had left on such a...ah...down note." He chuckled.

"That's....extremely creepy." She said. It WAS very creepy, but she should have expected it from him.

But could not help the laugh that came out of her mouth at what she just said as she remembered on one of the pictures of her in the box he had written a comment on it that said "That's extremely creepy." It was one of her, but it was taken in the middle of her sneezing while standing outside her car, so her facial expression was very freaky looking. She just found it funny she had accidentally read something he had written down.

"I thought of it as a hobby." He licked his lips again.

"Well get a new one… You creeper!" Nichole said flatly, and then had to hide her laugh as she realized how ridiculous she had just sounded in her tone of voice. She hid her laugh by coughing. "Oh gosh..." she slurred.

She knew the alcohol was the reason for her tongue being so loose tonight.

"I believe you do not have the authority to tell me what to do." the Joker said, humor in his voice instead of anger that Nichole thought he would have. "And if you think you do....well then I might just have to take advantage of you and teach you that you don't have any authority over me."

"Psh! You know that you have taken advantage of me many times already!" She snapped, the drunken humor in eyes gone. "So theref-"

Before she could finish, she felt him bring his hands up to her sides lingering them there for a bit before he began to tickle her once more catching her off guard.

"STOP!" She screamed in laughter that she could not control coming out of her mouth.

She lifted her upper body off of him, and sat up straddling his waist and began to bat his dangerous hands away from her sides. "Right now you're being rather pathetic for twisted fuck..." she said quickly before he tickled her again. At the moment, she didn't care what she said to him or if she would anger him. When she was drunk, her mouth seemed to have a mind of its own.

She also didn't realize that her lower region on his was grinding against him each time she moved.

Her mind was in a state of slight confusion as to why he would out of all things tickle her. She figured he wanted to prove he could make her laugh, even though she hated him; just as last night he proved something similar....

She reached down trying to pry his hands off of her, but the laughter and tickling sensation was overpowering her strength. "L-L-Let go! O-Off me!"

He picked up viscously letting his fingers slip under her shirt smoothly and tickle her bare skin.

This caused her laughter to become mixed with her uneven breaths as she squealed in another fit of laughter. "NOOO!" She attempted to roll off of him, but he gripped her hips and as she rolled over, they both rolled off the bed. He landed on top of her laughing his sick normal laugh as she tried to keep his hands off her sides. He never thought that he could have "fun" with Nichole when he wasn't mentally or sexually torturing her.

He continued, his fingers not stopping the fast gliding motion up and down her sides. His fingers got caught on her shirt, causing it to lift up and expose her pale belly.

Tears started to flow down her face as the laughter escaping her mouth was too hard and caused her gut to feel twisted up. "I-I-I-I-I...Can't b-breath stop!!"

He suddenly stopped tickling her sides and looked down at her. He brought his hands away from her stomach and placed one on her shoulder and the other on her face; rubbing away a tear flowing down it roughly with his thumb.

"How funny....Again I am able to make you cry out in something other than pain. Two nights in a row." He was looking smug as ever as he reminisced last night for a brief moment, and then returned his gaze to her looking like a sly fox transfixed on his next meal.

She scowled at him. His face was blurry on top of hers.

The irritation she was holding in had to be let out.

And so it was.

"Well congratulations you smart ass! Maybe...considering how you got what you wanted last night AND your fucking shower!" Her anger roared out of her drunken stupor. "How dare you force me to do that to you in the shower!" She screamed, referring to the disgusting act he forced her to partake in during the end of the shower. "I will never fucking forgive you..."

Her tears which were originally from laughter, returned to tears of pain; rage and humiliation.

He rolled his eyes. "Oh suck it up!" He lightly smacked her cheek. "I kept my promise. I didn't make you go all the way in the shower." He laughed. He then leaned closer to her face; his nose was only a centimeter away from hers. "And I never did thank you for it… You seemed to know what you were _doing-ah."_

Nichole's eyes had already rolled to the back of her head; his voice was turning into a distant hum. "You can't be human." The words just rolled off of her lips.

The Joker raised an eyebrow and then leaned down slowly, brushing her face with his. Nichole groaned as she felt his nose glide over her cheekbone and his mouth over the side of her jaw. The paint on his face, making his skin drag longer against hers.

"Please stop being so close to me… I truly hate it." She slurred.

The Joker ignored her; he knew her drunken thoughts were coming out and didn't give a damn. He took a strand of hair between his fingers and sniffed it. "Oh my...You smell...I think you might need another one..." He lifted his face up over hers again, grinning evilly. His other hand sunk tightly into her shoulder as he started to get more aroused.

She opened her eyes and glared at him. She wanted to wipe that kid on Christmas morning grin off his face as well as get him off of her. All the pressure his hands and body weight he was putting on hers shoulders were starting to hurt. "Well that's too bad for you. I guess you are going to have to deal with it." She knew that was a bad comeback.

He licked his lips. "I am not found of dealing with things. I like to take _action-nah_."

She rolled her eyes. "You're a filthy pig…"

"A shower can change that." He wiggled his eyebrows up and down. She saw that blurred motion.

"Oh you are so done..." She said, she was able to see him clearly through her hazy eyes.

She knew that the following thing she did, was only because she was drunk out of her mind.

She placed a hand on his back and the other on his chest. She then took him completely by surprised and knocked all of the weight he had on her shoulders.

She flipped him over so he was on his back on the ground and she was on top of him. He then rested one hand one of her thighs (as both of them were on either side of him) and brought his right hand up to the back of her hair.

He was impressed and obviously excited. A smile formed on his face, the smile looked as if he thought that her state of being drunk got her in the mood and would do something kinky.

As quickly as the smile appeared it faded as he realized what she was about to do. Fast as lightening, she reached up his bare torso and pinched a nipple tightly. She grinned as she twisted it, making sure to cause him extreme pain.

The Joker yelped out in pain, as he took his hand off of her hair and placed it on her hand on his nipple. He tried to pry it off. "Hey HEY! Stop!"

She twisted harder, enjoying hearing him in pain for once.

She savored the sound of his pain.

"OKAY! This game is too much in your favor." The Joker managed to say as he took her hand and dug his nails into her hand. He then turned both of them over once again so he was on top of her. "Time to turn the tables." He said and began to tickle her sides again, harder than he had yet. It felt like his fingers were digging and bruising her sides by how rough he was tickling her.

It was not an enjoyable experience in any way, shape, or form. She thought she was going to die of laughing....literally. She could not breathe.

Her involuntarily laughter came out strong and in almost panting type breaths.

_The Joker...is going to make me laugh to death...._ She thought.

"N-no!" She burst out in a breath of air. "OK-kay! You win! Stop! I can't b-breath!" She was desperate for him to stop. How he could cause her pain by tickling dumbfounded her. If he did not stop, she was going to get sick.

"What was that? I can't hear you!" He dug his fingernails into her as he tickled her, surely leaving red scratch marks. He wanted her to scream it.

"I SAID YOU WIN! STOP!" She screamed mid-laugh.

"That's better." He smirked as he sat up and placed his hands on her stomach. "Now let's get off this uncomfortable floor...I can't enjoy this little time together if I am uncomfortable." He sucked the inside of his cheek once, before wrapping his arms around her back, pulling her torso off of the ground.

She groaned, absentmindedly.

_Why did I have to get so drunk?_ She thought regretfully.

Her arms hung by her sides, limply, and were enclosed by the Joker's arms that snaked around her back. Nichole's chin rested on his shoulder, as he lifted one of the knees that was around her and kneeled up on his knee before bringing his other leg with him. He stood up and swayed both her and him gently to their left, causing her back to fall against the bed with his chest crushing hers. She had to scoot her legs up after them and he moved her.

He placed her back on the bed, the spot by the wall, and laid back down himself as well. Nichole turned her heavy head to the right, with dizzy eyes and stared up at the wall with the countless cracks.

She sighed when she felt his arms wrap around her waist, enclosing her to his chest. "Are we done yet?" She nearly moaned. It felt like she was sinking in the bed with the weight of his one arm that rested under her.

He ignored her. Instead, he asked the same question he asked earlier. The question that he truly wanted to know.

"Tell me," he grinned as he whispered into her hair. "What else made you submit yourself to my aching hands?" He smacked his lips. "Was it something in particular that I did-duh? C'mon! You can tell me." His grin was stretched painfully on his face as he tightened her arms around her; he knew he would get more answers than he did before.

She groaned and closed her eyes at the feeling of his arms crushing her ribs. "You…" She gritted her teeth, trying to search through her intoxicated mind for the right answer. "You wouldn't stop." She tightened her eyes even more shut as she began to shake in his arms; the memory was evoking her brain. "I… I was so weak… tired..." she slurred, "And emotionally drained. And I know that this is for certain: If I had been in my normal health I would have fought you- Don't tell me that it's not true because I _know_ it is." She groaned, turning her head side to side. Her drunkenness made the words flow out in a trail, "You repulse me. Before last night, I had only experienced the pains of you getting what you wanted from me in the form of rape... But last night... it was different…" Her shaking didn't cease as she admitted her greatest shame about feeling the pleasure.

She clenched her fists right next to each other on the bed. "Yes, you took care of me. But instead of having me immediately realizing what you did for me; you threw your hopes of my appreciation for everything you did for me… You made me take that shower with you as a ways of receiving your 'award' I wasn't sure of that you _thought _you earned for." She opened her eyes. "You selfish pig.... You want me to hate you! Don't lie to me… You saw how repulsed, upset, and humiliated I was in there! Both your eyes and hands burned every part of me… You touched me. I cried. And you had no care in the world." She swallowed. "You then fuck with my mind and body after the shower while we were in the bed and you kept touching me again! Never stopping when I pleaded! My desperation and constant pain of wanting you to stop must have faded when I realized that you were going to do the most dreaded thing I hate you doing."

She growled, aggravated and drunk. "Even though I was feeling the disgusting pleasure you gave me last night and took part in giving you... There has never been a time that I did not once hate you. And since last night there hasn't been a time that I feel worse. I hate you."

He immediately burst out into hysterics of laughter right after she was done. She groaned and closed her eyes as her body enclosed in his arms shook with his vibrating chest.

"You are absolutely right." He grinned as he said that with no remorse. He rested his left hand on her left hip (Nichole didn't realize that his hand was aching in, preparing to make the kill by tickling her again.) "I don't care. I am always _dying_ to see you cry." He chuckled into her hair. "I love to see you embarrassed and I _especially_ love seeing you ashamed and angry."

Nichole could feel his arousal against her rear. She cringed, moving uncomfortably. _Please don't._

She also then realized something. How much the Joker's moods changed. Just yesterday he said he hated her crying all the time because of her hate for him, and now he was saying he loved to see her cry and be in pain. So either he was lying right now, or lied yesterday.....or he just changed how he felt all the time.

His hand slipped from her hip down to grope her crotch over her sweatpants. She gasped, her body becoming paralyzed. It felt like her arms in front of her were held down on the bed by weights. He moved his smiling mouth to her ear, "And I love it when you do the things I make you do… It gives me power," he squeezed his hand gently when he said "power." He licked his lips, clenching his teeth, trying to control himself. "You just make me want more and more… and more… But I really have to admit-tah; remember when I reminded you how you never once covered yourself after you were on me? Well-luh… seeing you give into me and ride me right you did… Gave me my own high… Seeing how I can truly corrupt you and your broken mind." He chuckled again. "I was debating if I should have still grabbed my knife and trail patterns on your skin."

Nichole tried to scoot forward... "This isn't happening… This isn't happening... This isn't-"

To shut her up, the Joker immediately started tickling her sides again. She screeched and tried to move away. But as she started moving, he quickly grabbed her sides and rolled her over so her back was on top of his chest. He continued to tickle her on top of him and quickly snaked his legs out from under hers, and wrapped them around her thighs, holding her down and prevented her from using significant amount of movement that would kick herself off of him.

She groaned as she swayed on him, grabbing at his hands sluggishly. She felt so weak and lethargic for some reason. She just laid the back of her neck down over his shoulder as she struggled.

Suddenly, to her relief, he slid his hands from her sides and rested them on top of her hipbones, resting them on her bare skin where the shirt pulled up. Nichole sighed in relief for the moment.

But he wanted to see her tortured more…

He gripped the front of her hips, moving her and pressing her down so that her rear remained attached to his pelvis as he lifted his lower region against her.

Nichole kept her dazed eyes closed and winced; she could feel his hardness even strong on her rear through their pants.

He couldn't control himself.

He lowered her down, applying pressure to her hips, as his nails dug into them slightly, and started to move his hands on her hips so that her rear would grind against his member.

The wild dog was only barking.

Nichole groaned as she heard him groan as well into her left ear. Her eyes opened sluggishly. The ceiling was definitely spinning. It also appeared the spinning spiral appeared to be lowering down on her. In her intoxicated mind, to keep the ceiling from crashing on its gravitational field, she moved her hands to either side of him, placing them on the sheets.

_Move with its downward spiral_…

The Joker lifted his upper body with her raising hips; her head was still resting almost next to his face, as she lowered her rear down on his pelvis. And with the guidance of his hands, grinded her rear into his hardness in the rotating motion.

Her mind became clouded as it spun and spun.

_What the fuck is going on?_ She asked herself. Even she was unsure.

"What the fuck is happening," She slurred out loud as she continued to lower him back on the bed (as he put the weight on his neck and shoulders as he lifted his hips up into her grinding rear.)

He continued grinding her into him as he laid down with their legs still tightly entwined. As he groaned, she took deep breaths of air. She leaned her back further on him. He then scooted himself so he was lower and more under her body. He started to sink his teeth into her neck and nibbled; his nibbling started to slightly muffle his groans.

Still moving his hips and pelvis into her, he removed his hands from her hips, slid them up her stomach, and placed them on her shirt covered breasts.

She continued to rotate her hips. Her mind was everywhere.

He squeezed them and moved them out to the sides of her chest and then moved them circularly into the center of her chest, squeezing them together before he continued groping them out again.

As he continued his circling movement on her breasts, Nichole sunk her teeth into her bottom lip; something was not right.

"What's happening?" she whispered again in her murmur. She was slowing coming to herself and realizing the awful thing she was doing in her drunken state.

Then, with no warning, the Joker slid his hands down from her breast, down her ribcage and past her stomach to the hem of her shirt. He then quickly slid his hands up the front of her shirt and under the cups of her bra. He sunk his teeth into her neck as he roughly pinched her delicate nipples.

Nichole's scream faded into a moan of pain as he continued grinding. In her drunken desperation… she only involuntarily collected the sheets into her hands.

He burst out in laughter as he moved his mouth from her neck. "Payback." He said as he grinned into her jaw.

"Oh GOD no!" She groaned as she quickly placed her wavering hands to his arms in desperate attempt to get his hands off of her sensitive peaks.

He laughed as he twisted them harder between his thumbs and fingers. "Now you know what it feels like!" he laughed as she struggled. Her cries of pain started to pick up as she struggled to try to move her legs from his so she could get off of him. But his legs held their place as they constricted around hers. She lifted up her hips as she squirmed and struggled, but he had a very steady place as she tried to toss and turn.

"Now Nichole," he said as he quickly let go of one of her breasts with his hand (which was being attacked by Nichole's) and smacked her breast with it before he moved in to his iron pinch on her nipple again, "You just lost another one of my games!" He burst out in more laughter. Her breasts jiggled beneath his fingers as he laughed under her. "… I love when you do the things I want you to do..."

Nichole's face felt hot, tears rolled down her red cheeks. She was truly embarrassed. Embarrassed that she had moved with his movements, embarrassed that she did nothing while he had groped her, and mostly embarrassed because of the situation she was in and how she couldn't get out of it. He was just too strong.

Once again, she hated that even though she was on top of him, he still remained dominate.

_Maybe he is ticklish!_ Her panicking mind thought.

She quickly brought her hands down to his sides and started to roughly tickle him.

_Dammit!_ She thought, _Why can't guys be ticklish?!_

The Joker laughed at her pathetic attempt. "Come on, now is that the best that you've got?!" He sounded as if he was choking on her laughter.

She knew that her idea to tickle him was rather stupid, but her mind was in such a panicking and drunk state of mind, it told her to do it.

She cried out loud as he started moving her breasts by her pinched nipped between his fingers back and forth quickly, not losing his grip.

This was so much fun to him.

"P-please…stop.." she sobbed in defeat.

He laughed more as he bit the side of her cheek, "You are the most amusing thing." He chuckled as he un-pinched her left nipple and then excitedly squeezed his whole hand over her entire breast, tightly. "I never want you to give up your struggling..." he said as he smiled and squeezed her breast harder, quickly flicking the wrist of his groping hand into a quick back and forth motion.

She sobbed and groaned and brought her hands back up to his wrists again. "Okay! Okay!" She sobbed as she squeezed her eyes shut, in pain, "I give in! You win! Just please stop this!" She shouted with her mouth that almost seemed separated from her mind.

"Now… That's more like it!" He grinned as he moved her one breast faster and harder. He moved it in such a way that it caused her left bra cup to move up her chest and below her neck, fully exposing her left breast. His chin dug into her shoulder as he leaned his head up to take a peak; he moved his hand to the bottom of her breast and flicked her nipple with his thumb.

Nichole's sore and strained hands were numb by this point.

"But the thing is, Nikki, is that I have no problem keeping my hands where they are and keeping you in this particular position-nah for the rest of the night."

She cried out in frustration. She was finally able to gain minimal feeling in her hands and dug her nails into the skin of his hands savagely.

"Hey… hey!" He stopped squeezing her one breast and brought his thumb and index finger back to her peak as pinched both of her nipples harder and harder as she scratched. Nichole was screaming her head off at this point and brought her hands to just limply pulling on his wrists again.

"Or…" he said as he moved her breasts in little circles, "You will do me one… teeny tiny little favor as a reward... for me letting you see Gordon."

Nichole stopped struggling and gasped. He was unbelievable!

"WHAT?! But I fucking won the bet and beat you in that stupid game of poker! A deal is a deal and I don't owe you shit!"

He pinched tighter, letting go and smacking her other breast harshly enough to leave red marks before he fastened his fingers to it again. "I know that, Nikki… But what you asked of me was something very big and I _demand_ something in return. "

"I don't want to fuck you!" she cried out, tears running down her face.

He rolled his eyes. "… I won't ask you to do that. You've done that quite enough," he smirked. "Just one tiny thing or I will hold you like this for the rest of the night and possible rip them off of you… Agreed?"

Nichole continued taking deep breaths of air. She did not like the sound of this.

But she nodded her head in desperation.

He smiled as he roughly kissed her cheek, leaving a small bit of red makeup on it. "Good." He said happily. He gave her breasts one rough squeeze before letting them go.

Nichole rolled off of him and quickly adjusted her bra and top. She felt sick to her stomach.

"I was actually kinda hoping that you would refuse to do my favor for one little second-dah… I was actually looking forward to having you in that position for the rest of the night!" he chuckled as Nichole faced the wall and hugged her knees to her chest.

She groaned; everything was still spinning.

Her mind dwelled on how she was simultaneously messed up. Messed up in the way that she was drunk and also messed up in what just happened. She felt disgusted and ashamed.

She felt her face still growing hot even though he wasn't touching her. Her tense body began to shake in its abundant emotions.

"Oh come on Nichole! It was just payback! Ha ha! I still find it amazing how you didn't see that coming and your drunk self let you do what you did before I made the move... you should drink more often!"

She scowled. "Just tell me what the fucking favor is that I have to do for you?" she snapped.

"Demanding now, are we?" He burst out in his giggle fits. "As to answer your question… I'm not so sure… It's for me to know and you to find out when I want you to."

_Great!_ Nichole thought as she rolled her eyes. _Surprises!_

She knew at one point or another she would either feel the Joker's arm snake around her waist or he would change her position. She sighed out loud waiting for him to take action.

But instead he did something he had not done before.

He merely poked her backside once rather quickly.

"What?" Nichole asked, frustrated. The cracks on the wall started to slip in a horizontal fashion. She honestly regretted drinking that bottle from Jasper on the stairwell.

He didn't answer. Instead he responded with another poke on her back.

After another few seconds he poked her backside again, this time on her shoulder and then the next poke was on the back of her head.

It dawned on her.

_He's doing this to annoy me. _She scowled growing irritated, every time she would feel the slight jab of one of his fingers and its' over sharp fingernail.

She felt his finger jab at her backside again.

_Okay...That's it! He has to fucking stop! He has already pissed me off enough already!_

He was just so childish.

She started to turn over slowly so she would be facing him and could yell at him, but as she began to roll over the Joker met her half way. He placed one arm on the bed on the other side of her, and then got on top of her. She stared up at him blankly. His face was so blurry… Nichole could only decipher each colored chunked blur of makeup.

He stared down at her with his piecing black lined eyes. He saw how far away her drunken eyes were and how hazy everything must seem to her. She appeared to be more dizzy than before after his successful payback mission.

"I… Can't.. See things clearly… Only for what they are.." Nichole slurred as her eyes continued to daze.

He grinned down at her, before he leaned down and laid himself fully on top of her, resting his chin in the space between her breasts. He had his head tilted down so he was looking at her from the top of his eyes. It was almost frightening to Nichole.

"What are you doing?" Nichole asked, irritated. His head rose up and down with her chest taking big gulps of air, trying to calm her.

He responded to her without words.

He simply gathered the sides of her breasts, above her shirt, in his hands, and pushed them together, they slightly gathered around his chin.

"Please! Not again…" Nichole tried to get her arms to push him off, but his entire weight on every part of her body made her limbs feel heavy and numb. She closed her eyes and twisted her face to the side, trying to find the movement to shuffle her hands.

He grinned; he loved her fear, and her helpless state made it all better.

He bent his head down and muzzled his face in between her breast bestially; some of the fabric even got caught in his teeth for a split second.

She lay there, dazed, trying to keep her eyes open.

After a few seconds of this awkward act he was doing, he released her breasts and laid the side of his head in the middle of her chest, closer to her left breast. He took one hand and wrapped it around her back and the other laid limply on the bed.

Nichole hated this position. The way he would lay on her would cage her in. She could not move out from under him and he was in complete control. It was one small thing that added to her pity and feeling of weakness. She also knew she was at a further disadvantage because she was currently intoxicated. She hated this feeling.

She hated herself.

"Why do you always lay like that?" Nichole asked a few tones above a whisper.

She knew if she wasn't so drunk, she would have never asked; her sober self would not want to know the answer.

He licked his lips, taking in what she had asked for a moment. "Because... You are like my own personal sound machine to fall asleep too." He stated flatly.

That utterly confused Nichole. "What? ...My breathing is your personal sound machine?" she garbled in her confusion.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Close but no dice I'm afraid. The sound is more of a-" He then took one hand and put it into a fist. He tapped his fist lightly against the side of Nichole's head rhythmically like a heartbeat.

It took her a moment before she understood.

It came as a complete shock to her.

"Oh....you're listening to my heart beat.....Why?" She said in a daze.

She felt him shrug on her. "It entertains me." He stated.

He didn't feel like explaining it fully and veered the subject away from the question of why. "But yanno...it's kinda hard to listen to it right now though...with all of this clothing in the way...." He teased. He reached his hand down that had tapped her head. He let his hand lightly take hold of the hem of her shirt and started to pull it up slowly to show he wasn't really going to do it and was just messing with her.

"You wouldn't dare." She said. For some reason her playful mood came back to her. Her later explanation would be that she was tired of being so tense. "You've already had enough of me exposed… why the last time was not even ten minutes ago!" she said playfully. She shocked herself at the tone of her voice.

He then leaned his face so it was right above hers. It remained looming above her before he leaned by her ear and whispered, "I could if I wanted too. I can do whatever I want, Nichole."

She laid there remaining silent for a moment. He left his mouth by her ear and all she could focus on was the sound of his heavy breaths blowing into her ear drum.

"You want to see something?" The Joker asked.

"...Uh...I....No." Nichole stuttered. She hoped he did not mean what she thought he meant.

She felt herself being pulled up. The Joker had put both his hands on either side of her forearms and forced her to sit up. He sat in front of her on his knees. She kneeled in front of him.

He reached down and took hold of one of her hands with his.

Panic hit Nichole. She tried to tear her hand away from his grip. "No! Don't!"

The Joker sighed rolling his eyes. "Calm down. I know your mind is a little more messed up than usual but don't assume that is what I am making you do at this particular moment. I'll tell you with all honesty it's not what you think."

Her mind settled down hearing those words. _Good....Because I was not about to be forced to do that again...._

He took her wrist and then placed her hand on his chest. He yanked on her hand forcing her to get closer. She had to place a hand on his knee to prevent herself from falling forward onto him when he yanked her. She took her hand off his knee instantly though and placed it on the bed for support.

"What are you-...." She stated to ask, before she herself realized he was placing her hand on his heart.

"It's hard for you to believe but even your 'monster' has his own heart Nichole. Blood runs through my veins if you would believe_ it-tah." _

She resisted the urge to scream that his heart was a black-hole; Emptiness that sucks in everything around it.

She felt his heart beating under her frail hand. It was beating fast and steady as if he had ran a marathon or...was aroused.

"Why are you telling me this? That you are a human being? I knew that already even though the thought is almost inconceivable. That changes nothing." Nichole asked, feeling her stomach sink in her body.

His other hand snaked behind her back and rested on the back of her head, pulling her face inches from his. He stared at her for a moment. "Oh do you?" He asked; tone unrecognizable to her. A mix of amusement and disbelief. "I thought I was...'heartless'." He grinned, sending a puff of warm air in her face.

"You know what Nichole?.....You-..." He tightened his grip on the back of her head and forced her even closer to his face. Their noses would be touching, had he not tilted his head slightly. "You...are like a knife to me. That's how I can sum it up and view you as....A knife."

"Even though you're not the one who is intoxicated, you are not making any sense."

"Yes a knife." He spoke softly, as if he didn't want anyone else to hear. "You see knives are my favorite weapon of choice, as you know by now. They last long and are each unique. I can't throw away any knives because I grow to attached to them and have too many memories with each knife.. All my old knives I store away, so that someday I can go back and look at them all. Feel them all. Remember whose flesh has been cut by each one… it's funny how I sometimes don't mind leaving a certain knife in a person's belly at times… but I always have my other knives to back me up. And here is the thing Nichole. I never forget. I always remember who went down with each knife...."

She stopped breathing by this point.

"But I think I am losing track of my point here. My point is...to me you are like a knife in my pocket. Knives never lose their ability to do something for me. They always have a task that needs to be done or something new I can test out my knife with. You...are like one of my knives. I just can't rid myself of you. And I think-..." He licked his lips again. His tongue barely skimmed Nichole's lips.

"I think I have found my weakness because...I don't want anyone to kill you. I'd rather do it myself. It will be one of the best things ever… So if someone were to try and kill you, I'd have to stop it...." He looked into her eyes and stared absently. "This is becoming dangerous." He muttered, whether to himself or her she could not tell.

He then closed the _extremely _small gap between them and pressed his lips into hers. He lingered there for a few moments, before pulling back slightly. The sound of their wet lips separating echoed in her mind.

Nichole's head started to waver as the room continued its spin.

"Come on…" he said with a grin, "let your drunken mind take over again for my benefit will ya?"

He then returned his lips to hers, running his tongue slowly over her shut mouth. His white and red face paint began to rub off on to her skin. She felt greasy yet again. He didn't slip his tongue in her mouth though nor did he attempt to. He let it glide over her lips again before trailing his mouth along her jaw bone, leaving marks of red and white all over her. In some spots it began to blend and turn pinkish. His mouth slowly made its way back to her mouth and he kissed her open mouthed. Nichole groaned and tried to turn her head to the side, but his hand behind her head prevented it.

Instead of screaming and struggling like she normally would, she opened her eyes and held her mouth closed. She knew he would enjoy it if she struggled. He growled in frustration against her lips. He pulled away after a few minutes of lightly kissing her; Nichole remaining still as he did so.

He still had her hand on his heart and she felt it pick up even more. She felt as if it was in her hand right now; beating. He stared into her eyes intently.

"You can have a noise machine tonight." He nodded and then took hold of her sides. Her hand on his chest fell limp for a moment, before she returned it to her sides. He pulled her upper body into his torso; his chin resting on the top of her head. She moved her hands to the center of her chest. He kept his hands wrapped on the back of her shoulder blades as he shuffled with his knees to position himself in a half turn. He laid back down on the head side of the bed with his back on it and then placed Nichole on top of him this time.

He positioned her so her head was by his chest and heart.

He let one of his hands wrap fully around her waist pulling her to him, and the other he let lay limp on the bed comfortably.

Nichole's hands were being crushed under her own chest and she winced as they pressed into her small bruises. She could not lie like this. She could not _sleep_ like this.

But her head was laying directly above his heart. The beating sound playing in her eardrums for her.

She could feel face paint on her lips drying. Her nose twitched.

Nichole sighed and wiggled one of her hands out from under her breast and let it land on the bed. She had chosen the hand that was on the same side as the Joker's hand that was laying limp on the bed; for if she had chosen the other, her hand would be resting on top of the Joker's arm that was wrapped around her waist. Something she didn't wish to do.

She winced though as her hand ended up landing on top of the Joker's hand that was lying on the bed.

_Just my fucking luck...._

He suddenly enclosed his fingers around all her fingers, smashing them together. He gave them a squeeze, before letting go of her hand, and letting it lay limp on his. She quickly took her hand off of his and found a bare spot on the bed to rest it.

Her other hand still being squished under her breast, she groaned in pain. It felt like she was twisting wrist.

He seemed to sense her dilemma, for he quickly removed his arm from around her and pulled her right hand out from under her chest. He then placed it gently on his right shoulder so that her arm would then snuggle in the space between his bicep and side as he wrapped his arm back around her.

She moved herself more comfortably on him. When she was drunk and tired, she wouldn't really move around much in her sleep if she was already in a comfortable position.

She shut her eyes. The sound of the Joker's heart beat overpowering the sound of her heavy breathing from her mouth. She could hear him breathing though as well. The heavy breaths of him began to slowly fade as he started to drift off to sleep.

After a few moments, she risked making movement and tilted her head to look up at him.

From what she could make, his eyes were shut and his makeup was slightly smudged.

She tilted her head back down to the side and stared off at the dark eerie room.

She let out a sigh, fighting back the urge to scream out just to hear a sound other than the Joker's heart beat.

_I warned you....I fucking warned you. _Candy said out of nowhere in Nichole's mind. Her tone was unreadable and blank.

"I hate you Candy." Nichole whispered.

Suddenly Nichole jumped in her spot as she felt the Joker run his hand up and down her back a few times slowly.

"Sorry...I woke you." Nichole's tone full of sorrow. Not sorrow for her thinking she woke the Joker, but for the fact Candy was mad now. She had said earlier if anything happened tonight between her and the Joker that she would do something bad.

Now Nichole had to sit and wait for the bad event to happen.

"I wasn't asleep." He sounded slightly amused. "Guess it's harder to sleep when I am so used to my sound machine." He patted her back.

She shut her eyes once more, slightly thankful his skin was so warm against her face. It helped her fall asleep even faster.

* * *

**Kait:** Sydney deff worked her butt off in this chper, especially spicing up the bed scene at the endm, so extra props for her everyone! And also we are trying something new; since we have become so attached to our fans lately we will be taking these Q&A thingies and making video responces to them answering all of your questions. Both of us haha. Though since we don't live near each other, the answers won't have us both in them at the same time if we do it by video. So just send a messge for your question or write it in your reviews, because we tend to get a lot of questions that should be said out loud to the public because they are just so awesome.

**Sydney:** Yes! We really adore all of you that read this story and hope you know how much you mean to us!


	44. Candy's Mistake

**Kait:** Hello hello hello everyone! Long enough wait for you guys? Heh sorry. There are many reasons as to why it is late....one being....GUYS I CAN'T HELP IT! The Phantom of the Opera is back on my mind. I was obessed with it two years ago then it faded....now its back. Seriously as i typed parts of this story out by accident i would write "the phantom" instead of "the joker". Then as i go back and read i would facepalm....or rather slam my head against my own desk haha. Speaking of phantom guys you MUST read this thing on livejournel. Somebody did the phantom of the opera in 15 minutes and its sooo funny. Like i had tears of laughter in my eyes and then i showed it to Sydney and it was just epic hahaha. Dude we laughed on the phone about it later saying we would never be able to view some of the scenes in the movie the same way again cause we would think of that funny Phantom thing. Just google it you will find it.

**Sydney:** I busted my gut laughing from it! And Kait finally got the book i told her to get. The Phantom by Susan Kay. I explained it to her on the phone and she decided to get it finally!

**Kait:** Oh and something new to say....And its important! SYDNEY WROTE an entire section in this chapter. I did nothing to it, i had no basis for her to edit on...she did it all! And...Its well. I'll mark her wrote with a little centered dash to show her work and amazingness.

__

Like that. that little dash will mark the start of the section sydney wrote herself and when you see another that will mark the end. Mad props to her for this chapter guys. MAD props _(smiles) _and if your stomach is a little iffy like mine...just eeerrrm...skip over it?_ (shrugs)._

* * *

_Just great! How am I going to get out of this one?!_ Nichole thought giving a mental groan while eyeing at the man on top of her.

It took her a moment to realize she had shifted a bit in her slumber, but was lying fully on top of the Joker. Their legs were still intertwined with one another, and Nichole was still lying on her stomach on top of him, but there most certainly were a few changes. She was more up on his body, and her head was directly fitted under his chin rather than down by his heart. One of her hands had managed, in the night, to slip around the Joker and rest behind his back, while her other hand remained in a light fist resting on his shoulder. His hands relatively remained the same though; one wrapped around her waist, the other laying limply on the bed.

There was absolutely no way she could get off of him without disturbing his slumber, so she decided to just grin and bear it. It wasn't such a bad position really, or uncomfortable. But the man beneath her was really just the issue. She figured if she shut her eyes and kept them shut, everything would be fine.

His steady even breathing was the sound she tried to focus on. She had decided to not think about last night and the fact she was drunk. Though she **could** remember it all, she was not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing in her eyes. The one thing she could not get over was the fact he almost murdered her through tickling. Of all the things in the world..... Last night when he did the act of tickling her so viciously, it was almost as if she was underwater unable to breath; drowning in the pool of her very own insanity…

…Not to mention the nipple torture… THAT was hell.

There was a sound in the room Nichole then could hear and tried to focus on. Only then did she realize it was the sound of her own loud and shaky breathing from the nerves in her stomach. She clamped her mouth shut for she realized that if she breathed like this he would most likely know she was up. It would not surprise her if he was awake even at the moment. He was always tricky like that. A good actor. She opened her eyes for a brief moment to take in the small reddish glow emerging behind the drapes hanging on the windows.

Sunrise... A new day ahead of her. Another day to survive. She hoped the Joker would be leaving for the day and she would be able to hang out with Jasper. Today she did not want to re-experience yesterday's events, so being sober was something she would make sure her state of mind would be in. Although...it had been very relaxing in her mixed reality... Up until he returned of course.

Nichole was able to slow her breathing down to almost silence. By this point the Joker's breathing was even overpowering hers.

The sound of him breathing was strange to her even to this day.

There she laid in his arms quietly for what felt like two hours, even though she knew it to be only around a half hour. She thought by some lucky chance she would be able to fall back asleep and be able to wake up to see him gone, but she could not. She just was not tired at all anymore.

All she focused on, to prevent negative thoughts, was happy things. Jasper, Tom, anything. The more she tried to focus on the positive, the harder it became.

Just as she felt like she was on the brink of crying for a reason she could not explain, she felt the Joker slightly move below her. His breathing lost its pattern as he took a deep inhale of air and then sighed out loud. Nichole realized her eyes were open and quickly shut them, deciding to keep the act of her sleeping alive and well.

_He will be able to tell!_ She thought hopelessly.

The Joker tightened his grip on her waist for a few seconds as if remembering Nichole was laying on him like that, before letting his hand glide slowly up and down her "sleeping" body's side. He leaned his head to the left causing her head to land on his right shoulder. He then placed both his hands on the sides of her hips and slid himself out from under her, removing his hands from her as his legs unwrapped from hers and he placed his feet on the ground. She heard the impact of his bare feet hit the hard wood. He then stood straight up (as Nichole felt the weight in the bed change) and made a grunt as he stretched his arms out.

She could feel him turn around and glance down at her, hoping that her act was working properly since normally by now he would have called her on it.

From the next few sounds she heard, she could assume he searched around the room for a bit and picked up clothing. He then changed into his clothing and went into the bathroom where he remained for about ten minutes. She heard various sounds suggesting he was putting on makeup and his daily 'grooming' if one could define what he does to be called that. Then the Joker walked carelessly out of the bathroom and from what she could tell he was standing on the side of the bed looming over her; looking her 'sleeping' self over.

It gave her a rather uncomfortable feeling knowing that he was staring at her silently. She wondered what his next move was going to be. She heard him exhale rather loudly once again in slight frustration. Then she felt him stroke her exposed upper arm and trace downwards slowly to her forearm.

She could not hide from him the goose bumps that formed on her skin where ever his fingers would glide over her skin.

He then reached her hand and then let go. This act caused Nichole to shutter involuntarily slightly, so to hide it she quickly acted as if she was uncomfortable in sleep and rolled over onto her back, licking and smacking her lips together a few times slowly.

_The world's worst actor nomination goes to Nichole Stevens!_ Candy said playfully in Nichole mind.

Nichole was needless to say stunned, not by the fact Candy was speaking to her and for her fear of what Candy was going to do to Nichole, but because of the tone of voice Candy was using. She was acting as if nothing was wrong at all.

_C-Candy? _Nichole stammered in her mind completely bewildered. _Aren't you...mad at me? _Nichole thought without thinking... if that was even possible.

Well, she could not control her thoughts as she could with her tongue. Thoughts drift and pass through one's mind carelessly.

_All in good time Nichole... _Was all Candy said in return.

Suddenly she heard a metal clink and subtly clenched a fist that was under the blanket into the sheets beneath her to prevent herself from jumping as she recognized what that sound belonged to.

His switchblade.

Before she could even think, she felt the blade stroking softly on the flat side the same arm he has stroked with his own hand. No pressure applied, no skin cut. Just the feeling of coldness coursing through her for every second the demon's weapon of choice caressed her skin as if it was passionately comforting her.

She felt his other hand leaning on the bed supporting himself as he continued to trace the knife along her shoulder blade and neck. Once he reached her face the knife veered towards the J carving on her cheek and traced it multiple times.

It took her a moment to realize her mouth had opened slightly and her breathing hitched. She quickly caught herself and pretended to just be breathing through her mouth as she slept.

Making everything seem natural in an unnatural world.

Just as she felt as if she could not take one more trace with his knife around the curve of her J, he stopped and clicked the knife shut. He then removed his hand from the bed and walked away towards the bedroom door. The sound of the door opening and slamming shut vibrated off the walls fiercely.

In a state of honest shock Nichole laid in the bed, keeping her eyes closed for a few moments just to make sure the Joker was all the way downstairs and not about to turn around and come back in the room for something, before she finally decided to sit up in the bed.

As she leaned forward the bed creaked just slightly, and a loud booming noise caused her to jump where she sat.

The door suddenly opened and the Joker burst into the room with a smug grin on his face. "Next time you fake sleep my dear, learn how to control your facial expressions! I don't think you realized you had a pained expression on your face that entire time!" He boomed loudly laughing in amusement.

Nichole grasped onto the blanket that had moved down towards her legs and tugged it to herself tighter. Though she had clothing on, she felt secure in it. "Well sorry if I react like that when you have a knife to me!" She screamed out in a panicked voice, sounding out of breath from the slight heart attack she was still recovering from when he opened the door so unexpectedly.

He made a bowing gesture as he stopped in his walk toward her for a moment. "I can't help it. It's something I always do. I can't break a habit…"

"You always hold a knife to me while I sleep?" She asked without thinking, in disgust.

"Yes as a matter of fact I do, but normally you are sleeping and do not notice." He grinned as he slowly advanced upon her. He reached the side of the bed and kneeled on the ground, so he was eye level with her.

"Why?" Nichole asked in a whisper.

He took his knife back out and admired its glisten in the small amount of sun creeping into the room. She watched it and for a moment could see her own reflection in it. He stared open mouthed at it and then looked at her with dangerous eyes.

"Because...I am not really sure. Many nights, increasingly less as the days go on.... nights I would just stand over your sleeping body with my knife in my hand. At the beginning...back in the first few days of even being around you I was so...close-sah… So close to driving it in you." He grinned proudly as she stared at him emotionlessly.

"But I stopped myself," he continued, "because I was planning on using you by strapping you to a bomb or something and placing you in a spot in Gotham were a nice little children's school and a college dorm just happen to be next to each other...and then make chaos by saying one will go up in smokes and the parents of the children and college students have to choose who. It would be so much fun, but you messed up my plans, but not to worry...I had quickly formed a new one involving you, but still...many nights I would stay above you with a knife debating. Obviously I didn't....and then after the long period of time away from me, the recent nights...I rarely loomed over you with a knife....I would go to reach for it, but even stop before I touched its' handle. But I realized just how much will power I had back in the early days with you. How close I was to killing you...so many times. I don't think you understand how lucky you are." He laughed, shaking his head.

He then took his knife and let it retrace her J scar, causing her to flinch. "But then again, I still have these urges to spread your guts out on the streets every so often. But they do grow less and less as the days go on. I think a better explanation would be what I told you last night Nichole. Do you remember or were you too drunk to?"

She sent a glare at him, surprising herself that the words he just spoke about possibly killing her many times, were not affecting her as bad as she thought they would. "No I remember everything last night."

He suddenly stood up and clapped his hands together. "Good! Then I don't need to re-explain myself!" He put the knife in a coat pocket and patted her head like a dog. "Now then, I have to leave for the day, but I will assume you won't be getting trashed like you were yesterday now correct?" He said this all rather slowly and more as a demand than an inquiring thought.

She nodded her head in obedience without a second's hesitation.

He licked his lips at her, hunching his back as he leaned in closer to her. She backed her upper body away from him slowly as he dipped down further and further towards her without leaning at all on the bed. He held her with nothing but his eyes that were locked solid into her frail green ones. She finally leaned all the way back and ended up being on her back on the bed, but her knees remained on the bed as well; her feet curled under, crushed beneath her back. He leaned all the way forward, placing one hand on either side of her, on the bed as he kept his face inches above hers.

"You better keep your word Nichole." He said, and then proceeded to trace her lips with his tongue. After tracing them for a few seconds, he straightened up and headed out the door once more. This time Nichole could clearly hear him descending down the stairs.

The weight was off her shoulders for now and she could be at some form of peace. She brought her hands up and wiped her mouth clean of his salvia.

She waited on the bed for a few more moments, trying to keep her heart beat steady in her chest before getting up and doing her daily business in the bathroom and changing into new clothing, from the box in his closet. Then she dashed downstairs with high hopes of seeing Jasper and giving him a piece of her sober mind. She wasn't mad at him much. Just the simple things he said to provoke the Joker even more towards Nichole were things she would have to ask him to stop.

Upon reaching the living room disappointment flooded her seeing it was empty.

_Maybe he's out.... _She sighed out loud. Her little piece of sanity, Jasper, was gone.

As she entered the kitchen her face immediately brightened up. There, Jasper was seated in a chair for the small table with his head on the table, looking rather sick to his stomach. His designer glasses had removable shades on them.

"Let me guess...hangover?" Nichole inquired loudly, making sure he would be able to hear her.

He jumped a little not expecting Nichole to be in the room. He leaned his head up and rested it on his hand. "Girl! Don't talk so loud! Yes...But I am surprised YOU aren't the one that is on a hangover. You look almost completely fine!"

She went and sat next to him. "Despite my small headache I am completely fine...."She then tapped her chin. "Oh except for the fact last night you were poking fun at me and made it so awkward for me to be around that fucking monster!" She didn't mean too, but her tone came out angrier than intended. She reached over and grabbed the bottle of water Jasper was drink and took a swig.

He put on an innocent smile. "Que? Acabo de disfrutaba de yo mismo! Aparte de él pareció ser también! I was just being my drunk self! Sorry if I got you mad, but really it was nothing that bad!" He returned his head to the table.

"Heh...easy for you to say. You're not the one that has to be upstairs with him-"

But Jasper cut her off mid-sentence. "What the HELL, did he do to you last night? I mean damn girl, you were screaming as if you were in absolute torture."

"I don't want to go into it. I just want last night to be out of my mind please. So can we not discuss it?" She asked laying her own head on the table now.

"Did he..." Jasper began, but this time Nichole cut him off.

"No. No he did not."

The next few hours saw Jasper and Nichole simply watching television together and chatting away merrily. Jasper at one point offered Nichole some bud, but she humbly refused. She was not going to let yesterday repeat itself. The Joker had took Nichole at such a vulnerable state of mind, she was surprised herself he did not take _complete_ advantage of her.

She was ecstatic when Jasper, put the bud away and agreed to "soberly" recover with her.

About half way through the day, Jasper became increasingly bored by the program on the TV and offered to make lunch for the two of them.

"Yeah come on! I can make you something other than stale pizza which I am certain you have had almost every day you have been here." He smiled standing up straight off the couch.

"Alright." Nichole grinned, liking the sound of being able to eat something other than pizza. "What are you going to make?"

He looked at the ceiling in thought for a moment, before shrugging at her. "Whatever I can find in my magic room!" He then walked into the kitchen with Nichole following close behind him.

She sat herself back down at the table fiddling with her fingers as she heard Jasper take out his keys and open go into the room that contained all of his edible wonders.

"It's funny! I have so many choices, and yet I don't know what I want to make for us!" He called from inside the room.

She rested her elbows on the table. "Eh...I really don't care. Anything is fine with me. Food in general is a blessing in my eyes."

"Sandwiches it is!" She heard him clap his hands together and went back into the kitchen, closing the door behind him before emptying what seemed to be a whole deli set onto the counter. "I'm glad you're so easy to please. Normally when I make food for people they are so picky!"

She leaned her head on its side on the table and sent a grin of humor in his general direction. "Jasper you're too much." She said sleepily as she shut her eyes once more. She yawned. "I hate how no matter what, if I drank the day before I get so tired the next day. Does that happen to you?" She asked without bothering to open her eyes.

"Eh...A little." Jasper said, as he pulled out bagged slices of meat to add to the sandwich.

"Please tell me...whatever you are making...It's sanitary right? I mean...No bugs or mold right?" Nichole teased him playfully.

"Don't worry! I buy this stuff! I make sure it's good!" Jasper assured her. "EVERYTHING from my magic room is good!" he added, taking off the shade of his glasses and giving her a wink.

Just then, she heard a car pulling into the warehouse's garage. Her eyes darted open instantly and she met eyes with Jasper. She gasped. "Is that-?" She could not even finish her sentence.

"Yeah. Sometimes he stops here for lunch or to grab more stuff." He shrugged, not sounding at all effected by the fact the Joker was coming.

"Well you could have warned me!" Nichole panicked, looking around the room for a hiding spot as she heard the van door slam and footsteps in the other room.

"Nikkeester! Calm down." Jasper said comfortingly. "He only stays for like a half hour!"

_The things he could do in a half hour..._ Nichole thought absently.

As she heard the footsteps in the living room just about to enter the kitchen, Nichole did something very _very _stupid. In an almost instinct-like manner, she slide off her chair and went under the table. As soon as she sat down, drawing her knees up and resting her chin on her knees, did it finally hit her just how ridiculous it was.

_Oh fuck! This is so obvious! If he even looks down at the floor he will see me! And if he came here to eat...Oh fuck! _She cursed at herself.

_Way to go Eisenstein!_ Candy mocked.

She groaned; it was too late for her to make a dash to the stairs.

A pair of purple panted legs came into Nichole's limited viewing. His shoes were covered with grim and dirt as he walked around the table towards where Jasper was. A few men were following behind him carrying guns (as Nichole heard the safety being shut on and then the guns were placed on the table above her).

"Jasper, I seem to have impeccable timing. We only have a half hour till we have to go back out and set up the rest of the devices. So speed up the food please. These men don't know their copper wires from their flax cords when they are hungry and setting up bombs." He growled irritated.

"Right away sir." Jasper said, keeping his tone of joy even around the Joker. She could tell that Jasper was hiding in his laughter without even actually having to see him physically with her own eyes. He knew too, that Nichole's hiding spot was both stupid and pointless.

_Why did I even jump under here? _She thought absently. It was to put it in simple terms, a natural reaction.

Panic struck her and the Joker carelessly pulled out a chair from the table and sat into it. He dropped his elbows onto the table and let his feet cross as they lay on straight on the floor in front of him, letting his heels be the only part of his foot touching the ground.

His feet came within inches of her and she tensed up, trying her best to scoot backwards. Just as she was though, the other men started to sit at the table, sticking their feet under it as well. Nichole tried to sit and squish herself so tightly together. She sat in the center of the floor under the table, completely crowded.

She jumped and clapped a hand over her mouth when the Joker slammed his fists on the table. "And honestly? Five of you almost were caught by the cops today. Two, actually did get caught and are most likely being interrogated by the commissioner as we speak. Did any of you know those two that were caught? Would they remember where we are now?"

"It was Lenny and Mo that were caught." One man spoke up. "They both were escapees from Arkham during the Scarecrow raid. They have been chalked up on heroin everyday of their lives. I doubt they even remember who they were working for."

"Good. We don't need those two ruining everything. Besides, I have a few of my other men-nah in MCU, so we are set. After you finish eating Cameron, call Mr. Decoro and tell him that if those two that were caught today start acting like they are going to crack, to slip them the pills I gave him. It will keep their mouths shut."

"Got it boss." The man replied adding laughter after his response.

"Here you hombres go." Jasper said, placing a plate on the table. From the next few sounds, Nichole was able to make out, she guessed the men greedily took whatever was on the plate in a mad rush.

Nichole was so frightened the Joker would move his feet just a few inches forward and end up hitting her lightly with the sole of his shoe. She hoped if that happened, he would think that it was him accidentally hitting one of his men's legs.

The men talked for a few minutes, eating sloppily from the sounds of it. Jasper had sat down as well, but he was seated on the kitchen counter, since Nichole could see his feet dangling off it. "So boss." Jasper said, "Do you think I could buy some insulation? I kinda want to put some in my ceiling, since I can't sleep well anymore." Jasper asked innocently. She could hear the stupid grin in his face.

The Joker sighed. Nichole could just feel him rolling his eyes at the moment, and from the sounds of it whatever piece of food he was holding he dropped harshly onto his plate. He turned himself so he'd face Jasper while seated. "Oh come now, she wasn't screaming that loudly."

Nichole could see Jasper physically flinch slightly when the Joker looked at him. Whatever glare or stare he sent Jasper was not pleasant, but Jasper's voice and tone did not sound affected, as he spoke once more. Nichole wished she had that ability. "Well it was enough to keep me up. Heh. I mean what were you doing to her? She sounded like she was dying… and that she wasn't very happy." The men burst out laughing.

A few of the men started to mumble a bit. One spoke up clearer than the others. "Yeah I could hear the bitch screaming from my room."

The Joker turned his body back to face the table and paused. "You want to know what happened last night?"

After a long pause a mumble of "yes" was heard.

"Well why don't you ask her yourself?" The Joker inquired.

_What...._ Nichole thought.

Before she could react, she felt something tightly grasping her upper arm and pulling on her. The Joker pulled Nichole out from under the table, and she landed in a kneeling position to the left of the Joker. He switched that hand to grasp the back of her neck as he looked down at her. "Well look at the things you can find under a table here boys. It's a female!" The Joker grinned, as she flinched at him.

"Is there anymore under there?" One man joked, causing a small laughter to happen between everyone but the Joker and Nichole.

"How brainless do you think I am Nichole? You mock me, by thinking I would never find you under there. I could see you from the moment I entered the room. I could smell you under there." He tightened the grip on the back of her neck, causing a distinct ringing sound to echo through her ears.

She decided to be honest. "Oh I knew you would find me...I just. When I heard you coming it was instinct to hide." She said flatly.

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't like your tone." He stated.

Candy was itching to come out at this point, but was restraining herself. Nichole could feel Candy's distress inside her.

"I'm sorry." Nichole said dully, starting at the floor.

"How sorry are you?" The Joker said, faking concern.

Right now, everyone else in the room had their eyes on the two of them, but to Nichole it was as if they were not there. All her focus was on the man with the face paint.

"Very sorry."

"Prove it." The Joker licked his lips leaning his upper body down towards her a little.

Suddenly, before Nichole could say or do more, she was enveloped in herself, sucked up completely out of her body and mind… Candy was getting better at this.

"Nichole is very sorry." Candy said, finally giving up on her will power for a moment. She took one hand and let it slide on his inner leg slowly back and forth. "She is very sorry." She said seductively as she grinned up at him.

It was like a switch went off in the Joker's mind. He took Candy by her sides and stood up, walking forward into her pushing her back until he slammed her into the fridge. His hands remained tightly on her hips, as he rested his forehead on hers. He pushed his whole body, hips and all, into her and the glanced at the men in the room. "Private time, gentlemen. Please take your food and get out. NOW! Get those bombs ready. Call the MCU." He growled.

Without a sound everyone left including Jasper.

He then returned his gaze to Candy, who was smiling sexually. "Private time? Candy likes that idea...I like it very much." She brought a hand and wrapped it around the back of his neck, twirling her fingers into his hair.

"I don't have time for want you want. And I am not in the mood for it. **I get it when I want it**." He hissed. "And right now I don't want it and I don't want you. You interrupted my conversation with Nichole. You know that is a little rude?" he discomfited her.

Candy laughed softly. "I couldn't help myself. When I am around you it's hard to concentrate. Besides...surely you want a little....something before you make more chaos." She slid three fingers down his lips, smiling. "It will get you in a brighter mood." Candy tried to push his head down into hers, but he kept his neck in the normal position and locked it tightly.

Candy sighed. "Well...If you don't want that, then let me come with you. I want to help you. That's why you made her make me after all isn't it? To help you spread chaos. Let me come with you and help you with your crime. I can do whatever you ask me to do."

He didn't say anything. He just stared into her lust filled eyes like a zombie.

She growled at his laconic behavior. "I'm coming with you!" She said. "I don't care what you say. I am going with you! I can help. I can do a better job than any of those fools!"

He slammed his fist into the fridge right beside her head. "See! This is why! This is why....Candy. You try to control _me_. You want me to do what you want to do when _you_ want to do it. You're trying to tame a beast and train it and make it do tricks. Beauty can't tame the beast. That story was made campy and unrealistic. In real life, the beast would dominate its prey, not let the prey stomp over it."

"Then let me be a beast too. I do believe it's my turn." She made a circular pattern on his shoulder.

She leaned up and met his lips, kissing him only once gently. "I can be your beast."

"You can't be the beast when I am the beast." The Joker said flatly with no emotion as he backed away from her.

Candy stayed against the fridge, slinking back into a sitting position on against it. She sighed, "I'm too tempting for you. I can see it in your eyes. You want me. You know you do. There is a part of you that wants me. Embrace it, because I can give you all you want and more." She giggled, spreading her legs out in front of her in a very seductive like manner.

"If I wanted a whore, I could always get my men to buy one." He said irritated, as he picked up the remainder of his food off the table and held it in his hand firmly. He shook that hand at her in midair. "And I expect NICHOLE when I get back."

And with that he left the room, shouted up the stairs for his men to hurry up and went outside to his van.

Candy sat slumped against the fridge, speechless. Only short breaths left her mouth as she tried to form a sentence, a word. Anything to say to react to what he had just told her.

Candy's broken heart and her shock caused her to slip away and Nichole was once again able to take control of her own body.

Nichole herself did not know how to react to this. She of course was thankful nothing too physical happened between Candy and the Joker, but she didn't know how she felt about the Joker insulting Candy. It wasn't the fact that it would hurt her that was the problem (by all means she wanted Candy to be hurt and heartbroken) but the effect of it was what worried her. Normally when Candy gave control back to Nichole, she would say some witty remark and even at that Candy would not normally give Nichole control back that easily. It normally would take immense effort on Nichole's part to get control of her body once more.

Candy was getting stronger.

Nichole steadied herself as she stood up, feeling a slight bruise forming on her upper arm from when the Joker grabbed her out from under the table. She rubbed at her arm absently as she walked into the living room where Jasper was sitting in front of the television. As soon as Nichole entered he pointed at her and almost in a yelling voice said, "You have some explaining to do! What the hell was that about?!"

She calmly sat down on the far side of the couch from him and sighed. "Jasper... that was Candy. She got control of me and... Well as you can see, she loves the Joker."

Jasper slid himself right next to Nichole and poked the side of her head. "I was never told that she came out of your head. When I was told the meager details, I assumed that it was only someone was talking to you in your head."

"She does talk to me inside my head. And she comes out of my head and controls my body." Nichole thought how completely insane she must sound to Jasper at the moment. "I'm sorry...you must think I'm a creep now." She rested her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. She hunched her back forward and rubbed her face in a stressed like manner.

Jasper wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Hey brighten up girl! He's gone. She's gone. Everyone is gone but us and this TV! What more can you ask for?" He nudged her side with his other hand.

She stiffed a laugh. "Heh… Yeah thank you Jasper." She said, but still felt a bit unsettled.

For another hour they watched the television; both of them not knowing what to say to each other. The entire time Nichole could hear Candy simply mumbling in Nichole's mind. At first Nichole tried to focus on the words she was saying and try to figure out what she really was saying to herself, but gave up after a while and droned Candy's voice out by chatting with Jasper and watching the TV screen.

"So Nichole. You, little missy, got me in trouble with the boss." He smirked, looking actually amused.

"I did? I am sorry." She said in all honesty.

"Yeah. When I went downstairs last night, he kept looking at me like he knew what was up, and then calmly asked me if you were smoking it up that day and if I shared you my drink last night after the poker."

"What did you tell him?" By this point Nichole was lying on the couch; the top of her head resting against the side of Jasper's leg as she stretched her feet over the couch's armchair.

"Well, I was boozed up so I just said what I could....which was the truth that yes you were. Then he like gave me this look and it scared the shit outta me! I mean his eyes in that makeup! Gives me the creeps! Anyway he glares at me and took out his knife and just kept looking at it, and here I'm thinking, oh shit I am finally done for. But he looks at the knife, then to me and tells me that I should be careful. That if you were to get drunk or high like that without his permission or knowledge, that he may be tempted to as well and then his knife may 'accidentally' slip out of his hands and into my chest. Dude I think I almost pissed my pants. Everything is more frightening when you're fucked up. But I still bet if I wasn't I'd still be rip shitting. Gosh he is just so demanding." He patted Nichole's head.

_You have no idea how __**demanding**__ he is._

"I am so sorry I got you in trouble. Today, he himself told me to not do what I did yesterday. Said he wanted me good and sober today. Well he didn't tell me that flat out, but that was his point. I don't see why he would care though. If he wasn't threatening you about it, I would most likely do it, just because he doesn't want me too." She sighed. "But I promise I won't. I don't want you hurt cause of me."

"Hmm. That is a good question though. Why would he care if you're as drunk as a skunk or as high as a fucking kite? He shouldn't care. Did he give any hint as to why?" Jasper tilted his head.

"I think it's because he knows that I would rather die by the drug's influence than die at his own hands…And last night he was acting so strange-"

But Jasper interrupted her, "Okay you have to tell me what happened last night. I actually feared he was cutting you up or something. Cause your screams were nothing like the screams you did that other night." He playfully wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

She rolled her eyes. "He was just wearing my mind down a lot. He kept toying with me and....and groping me a lot. And let's just say it hurt and my stupid drunk self tried to cause him pain and I..." she flushed red. "I twisted his nipple…that was NOT a good idea…"

"That's stupider than you hiding under that table!" Jasper began to laugh hysterically. "No no no go on! Tell me more!"

"Yeah well then…. Um… without going into details… He did the same to me, and it killed. He wasn't going to let go either....He forced me to agree to do something for him in order for my request to go through, which I doubt will even go through in the end."

"Request?"

"In poker he like let me bet against him for anything, within reason, that I wanted. If I won, I decided I wanted to visit Gordon and-."

"Mr. Sexy!" Jasper interrupted excitedly, his big brown eyes brightened beneath his glasses.

She laughed in mid-sentence. "Yes, Mr. Sexy, but anyways if I lost he got to get whatever _he _wanted. I ended up winning and he did not look too happy about it. Then in bed he said he would not let go of me unless I agreed to do something for him if he was going to let me see Gordon. I seriously doubt he will even let me see him in the end, and if he does then I know for a fact something is up. To lure Gordon somewhere, or to-...I don't even know. But if he ends up letting me I will have to be on my guard, because it would be rather fishy."

"If he lets you go, I highly doubt he would go with you. That's like a fly flying into a fly zapper. Instant death.....I'd take you!" Jasper shouted excitedly. "Well of course if the plan goes through."

"That would be nice, but can we please not talk about Gordon right now. If I keep thinking about the 'what if' scenarios, I'll just be leading myself up for disappointment. But seriously all what I just said was pretty much what happened to me last night. So embarrassing. And then this morning I find out that sometimes at night he basically looms over me stroking me with his knife debating on killing me. I'm a little creeped out to go to sleep now." Nichole shuddered involuntarily.

"Well if he has done it that many times, debating on killing you, then you are one lucky girl. And hey if it's dragged out this long maybe it means something." Jasper joked.

"Not _funnnnnnny._" Nichole dragged out her sentence, honestly not amused by his joking remark.

"But damn. I overheard most of the conversation him and...err...Candy had in there and holy shit! That bitch is fucked up."

Nichole's head seemed to snap inside of her: _…What? _Candy asked, seething.

_Oh god...Jasper no stop._ Nichole thought as soon as he opened his mouth. Her eyes went wide as he continued.

"I mean really? She thinks the Joker likes her? She's too much like him for him to like. He obviously likes you Nichole and not some crazy whore who has her head in the fucking nebulous clouds above thinking the Joker and she will run around creating chaos together. He's already created so much chaos with you Nichole. No offense. But surely he must enjoy the fact it was unwilling by you. He wouldn't want it from the willing, because then it ain't chaos its partnership. Her tone of voice is even different than yours. She sounds like a fucking bimbo!" Jasper started laughing.

Candy… Then lost it in Nichole's mind. She growled out in frustration to the point Nichole instinctively covered her ears with her hands even though it did nothing.

_Candy! Calm down its fine! I insult you all the time and yet you don't get pissed enough to act on it!_

_FUCK YOU NICHOLE! That's only because I expect it from you... and I NEVER thought I would be insulted by this… this FAG! _Candy roared.

Nichole rolled off the couch and curled into the fetal position, getting the feeling of numbness consume her. Candy was trying to come out once again; her anger rushing through Nichole's veins. "J-Jasper! You have to get out of here. You have to go." Nichole rushed the words out. Her face was turning red and her pores filled with sweat.

"What? Why! Nichole are you okay?!" Jasper jumped off the couch and kneeled by Nichole, who by this point started shaking.

The feeling of Candy trying to take over could best be described as holding onto a rope, with third degree burned on your hands and chest. Each second felt like an hour. The pit of her stomach was as if it was splitting into two. Her head had the worst headache ever possible. All these feelings and the physical pain of trying to keep Candy inside of her. There was only so long that she could hold on.

"Jasper! Get out! Go!" Nichole screamed, clutching the material of the couch cushion and squeezing onto it trying to remain in control; trying to keep the feeling off the material in her grasp her own. Her own feeling and not Candy's.

She could not take it anymore. She held on as long as she could. Nichole let go of her rope and Candy was waiting for her at the bottom of it.

Candy stopped shaking from, in her opinion, Nichole's ridiculous attempt to remain in control and sat up very calmly. She stood up and brushed off her pants, before about facing and looking Jasper straight in the eye.

Jasper knew by this point something was not right. It was her eyes. Nichole's normally solemn, kind eyes were gone and replaced with eyes filled with anger, hate, and desire. "Nichole?" Jasper asked weakly.

"...Crazy am I?" She seethed so heavily that her upper lip curled, exposing her teeth. "Well....how about I show you how CRAZY I really am?!" Candy's voice became louder as she spoke. "You don't know ANYTHING about me!" She screamed in rage. "How fucking dare you!" Candy charged forward at Jasper, who as quick as a cat dashed out of the way and stood on the opposite of her behind the couch.

"Candy! Hey hey hey! I am sorry! I-I didn't-" But he was cut off, by Candy grabbing the small table on the couched side and threw it fiercely at Jasper with all of her strength. He ducked quickly letting out a yelp as the table smashed into pieces after hitting the wall. "I DIDN'T MEAN IT!"

"Like hell you didn't! You don't know that the Joker...He does love me! Take it all back! You fucker! Take back what you said! He loves me I know it!" She took the couch cushions in anger and threw them around the room, before she got onto the couch and stood on the backboard of it; her weight causing the whole couch to fall backwards, with her now standing on the back cushion of it, right in front of Jasper.

"I take it back! I take it back!" Jasper slowly started to back up. Sweat was pouring down his face at this point and his hands were shaking in front of him in fear; she looked like she was _really_ going to kill him!

"TOO BAD I DON'T FORGIVE YOU!" Candy screamed at the top of her lungs. "After all I'm just a fucking crazy bitch… aren't I?" she said sarcastically trying to mock Jasper's tone of voice.

Candy kept walking forward towards Jasper, tearing down a lamp and armchair as she walked right by them.

"PSYCHO PUTA!!!" Jasper screamed as he ran.

Jasper darted into the kitchen and went through the first drawer he could find, to try to pull out some sort of tool he could use for a weapon. He knew the knives were not kept out in the open in the kitchen, but figured if he could find a rolling pin or a heavy pot he could try to smack Candy with it.

In his state of mind....he ended up pulling out a spatula.

He held it out in front of him, groaning as he saw what the weapon of choice was. Candy entered the kitchen and smirked seeing the spatula. She walked slowly towards him, holding out her arm to make sure to knock all the contents on the kitchen counter to the ground. Broken glass and loud clanging echoed the room. Once she was directly in front of his shaking form Candy laughed at him, before grabbing the spatula out of his hand harshly, before she wacked him across the face with all of the strength she could muster.

The sound of the hard plastic hitting skin echoed through the house.

"WHAT THE F-" Jasper started to shout before Candy wacked him again, causing his glasses to fall off his face and shatter on the ground as they slid under the table.

"YOU BITCH!!!" Jasper screamed in rage… This was the last straw. "YOU BROKE MY FUCKING BVLGARIS!"

Candy laughed in hysterics and this time, dropped the spatula and slammed her fist into his right cheek causing him to fall to his knees holding the side of his face in pain. He then crawled himself under the table quickly retrieving his broken glasses. "Get away from me! FUCK YOU BITCH!-OW!" He cried out in pain as his butt was _literally _being kicked.

Candy then took one of the chairs at the table and threw it across the room. She watched it hit the wall and smash into pieces. It certainly calmed her down a little. Had she not have done that she would have pushed the table out of the way and attacked Jasper a bit more… But now with a slightly calmer state of mind she was able to smack herself mentally and remind herself the real reason she wanted to have control of Nichole once more.

"I'll show you." She muttered as she made her way out of the kitchen. "He will want me more than anyone. More than Batman. More than Nichole. More than all the barrels of gasoline in the world!" She screamed as she ran up the stairs until she reached the third floor.

* * *

The Joker returned home a couple hours later. He casually strolled into the living room and the first thing he noticed was the complete mess it was. The furniture was strewn about, lamps and light bulbs broken. He panicked for a moment and then he walked into the kitchen and saw it was empty, but looked just like the living room. A broken chair, broken glass, and pots and pans scattered everywhere. He saw the normally locked closet was slightly cracked open. He used one finger on the door's side to open it. Inside was Jasper, sitting on the opposite end with a shaking spatula and bottle of PAM. He was clearly crying as he shook and the Joker realized that his glasses had been broken off.

He let out a sigh of relief seeing it was the Joker, but immediately tensed back up. "You have a psycho puta here! She- She went upstairs! She's fucking crazy! She attacked me!" Jasper stood up slowly, out of breath. He still did not dare to drop his PAM or spatula.

The Joker's mouth hung open slightly as he realized almost instantly what Jasper meant. "Oh great..." He growled in frustration. "I don't ever get a break here do I?"

He backed out of the closet and fast walked to the stairs. He began to climb them. Once he reached the top and entered the long hallway leading to his room he called out to Candy in a twisted menacing voice. "Oh Caaaaaandy."

He reached his door and walked inside… and it was a sight to see…

There in the center of his bed, laid out on her side, facing the Joker, with one hand on her face supporting her head up, was Candy. Candy had been able to locate and put on her outfit , candy cane pole and all. The whole red and black and white zip up dress was tightly on her, as well as the makeup which she placed on perfectly. She made sure to spend extra time making the makeup of the J scar, to be just right. Her cleavage made her look even more like a whore.

"Well hello there handsome." Candy cooed. "How was work? You looked stressed. I think you need to relax." She grinned, pushing herself up so she sat on the bed with her feet hanging off the side and on the ground.

"I believe I told you..." He spoke through his teeth at this point, to keep his cool. "That I expected Nichole to be here when I returned."

She fully stood up at this point, taking the candy pole with her. "I know, but...I am sorry I couldn't allow that. It's hardly fair. All the time she gets to spend with you. I think it's my time right now."

"I think your time is up. Move along now." He batted at the air, shooing her away.

Candy furrowed a brow, and looked on the verge of tears but held herself together. "You don't really mean that." She choked before blinking back her tears. "You just can't accept that someone like you is standing in front of you. You can't accept that we are exactly alike and meant for each other, but don't worry you will get over it in time. I am sure when I give you all you desire you will push that stupid little Nichole into the back of your mind just like I am pushing her now." She pointed to her head. "She clouds it too much. With me you don't have to worry about me escaping...or o-or anything!" She smiled trying to sound hopeful.

"Don't you see? I am a one of a kind. If there is someone out there just like me...well. It's like that saying. Things that are alike push against each other. They repel." The Joker smirked at this pathetic woman.

"And what? You are going to tell me that you and Nichole since you are opposites, you attract? That is complete bullshit." She growled as she rolled her eyes.

"Ah ta ta I didn't say that." He stepped closer, but still held his ground. His eyes held obvious anger at Candy twisting his words. He let out a grin with his anger.

Candy, in a quick swift motion, lifted her candy cane pole in the air, and used the hooked end of it and wrapped it behind the Joker's neck and then pulled him in forcefully towards herself. She pulled him until he was right in front of her. She looked up at him, throwing the pole in any down. She placed both her hands on the edge of the front of his coat and tugged on it. "Why....WHY don't you want me? I'm better! You know it!" She screamed desperately in his face which was now inches from hers. "I **am** better than her! I would give you everything Nichole never could and never will! What's _so_ special about her anyways!? She served her purpose! She helped you create chaos! Now let me in! I am the one that is supposed to be with you!"

Candy's stomach felt like it was empty; a black hole sucking in everything inside of her and swirling it up into emotional oblivion. Tears fell down her face without her even realizing it. She clung to his coat as if he was slipping away from her, and leaned her body into his chest, but still looked up at him with her plate sized solemn eyes. "Please…" she begged tearfully, "you know I am better for you. Nichole...S-she doesn't even like you! She hates you with every fiber of her very being. She will never forgive you, or just get over what you did to her. But I don't hate you. I don't care what you did to her; I only care about what you do to me! A-and I don't care if you smack me around or act rough with me, because I-...." This was the first time Candy even sounded nervous; she was pouring her heart out to him. "And...I l-love you." She choked.

"What?" The Joker's mouth fell open, slightly.

"You heard me: I love you." she said. He said nothing so she shook her hands slightly on his coat. "I love you! No one can and will ever love you as much as I do!"

The Joker furrowed a brow and sucked on his bottom lip for a while as he stared intently at Candy.

Her eyes started to widen as she realized he did not like what she said at all. She had to think of something quickly. Her breaths started to come out fast and loud as she searched through her mind for something do to; something to say to get him to like her.

She reached down and grabbed his gloved hand and forced it to rest on her chest, over her heart. "Can't you feel me? Every time you are with Nichole and pleasuring her or hell doing anything with her....even the simple act of being around her. Can't you feel me when you listen to her heart at night? Can't you hear my heart crying out to you; yearning to be with you? Now...Tell me whose heart you feel right now. Tell me who you feel." She gave a hopeful smile as she sniffled with her broken tears.

He swallowed and licked his lips before answering before he finally took his hand off of her chest, taking big steps to back up into the wall behind him. "I feel one heart and it belongs to Nichole. Not. You....At first I thought it was funny have she went so insane that her personality split right now the middle. It amused me and more than helped me to cause Gotham to fall to its knees and mistrust the systems set up by the government. I honesty thank you for that." He patted her hand that was clutched to his jacket. "But I think you have it all wrong. It is _you _whose time is up. You have served _your_ purpose. I no longer find you amusing, but more of a distraction." He said flatly with no sort of emotion in his tone.

It was as if thousands of little knives pierced through Candy's skin and she was drowning in her own blood. She tightened her fists to the point where her knuckles turned completely white. She started shaking as each of his words was another blow to her heart. She felt as if she had just lost a fight. Bruised and beaten was her heart and soul.

_He's lying. He has to be! _Candy tried to convince herself. She suddenly pulled an idea out from the back of her mind…

__

She quickly ran into him, grabbing his jacket before she turned them so it was she whose back was against the wall. She let her hands release their grip on his jacket and slowly slide down his chest.

Candy then suddenly grinned seductively through her tears as she thought of something that even he could not resist. "You know as well as I do that I can pleasure you so much better than Nichole. I can make you feel like you have never felt before." She ran her hand down to his pant covered crotch and groped at it.

He tensed up and groaned before he tried to bat her hand away. "What-tah… do you think you are doing? Stop. I just told you I don't want you-"

But Candy had found the buckle of his belt and undid it, look at his face. She then groped the button of his pants and undid them. She used her other hand to pull down his zipper. Candy smiled at his shocked facial expression. "I am giving you what you deserve." She spoke slowly, as she loosened his pants.

"If you want to give me what I want....then you'd stop and bring back-" But he could not finish his sentence, for Candy had slipped her hand down the front of his boxers and groped underneath him. He drew in a fatal breath of air. She then made sure to linger her fingertips on his inner leg as she trailed back up to his front. She grinned in his face as her fingers then trailed them to clench around him, using her other hand to pull down his boxers slightly and release him from his boxers.

She could feel that his body was responding to her despite his rejection. She slowly moved her hand back and forth while she gripped him.

"Don't speak." Candy said, dragging out her words, as she pushed herself up on her tiptoes and let her mouth drag across his lips, with no pressure applied.

As her fingers glided across his member, he raised up on his toes for a moment as he shuddered. His grip on her upper arms, trying to push her away, loosened for a moment before they tightened again. He then started to push away from her again. "You do not have the right to order me around." He strained a growl.

She desperately started to quicken her pace, still feeling his tense body in front of her as she pushed against his grip so he was still leaning into her.

Obviously her attempt was not working as well as she had hoped.

She reached up with her left hand and grabbed the back of his head forcefully and shoved his mouth onto hers.

By this point, the Joker's _physical_ side was overpowering his plans of rejection. For the first time, he mentally, had switched places with Nichole; he felt Nichole's feeling of giving into her anger and hate into giving into the pleasure his selfish body was now receiving.

He moved his mouth eagerly against her, in his frustration. He moved one of his hands to cup the side of her face while his other slid down her arm and rested on her rear. Candy grinned as her mouth fought back roughly with his. He was being vicious… and so was she. She felt his teeth and tongue smash against her mouth and tongue earnestly.

He moaned into her mouth as she tightened her grip and worked up and down his shaft, faster with her hand. He was so stiff.

The Joker felt disgusted in his pleasure coming from this parasite. But he was a man and did nothing about it.

Candy felt the tears return to her eyes as his mouth slowly stopped moving with hers. She felt him tense as his hands slowly loosened their grip on her.

She squeezed her eyes shut.

_No!_ She thought as she mentally cried, _I CAN'T lose him!_

She then let her hand behind his head slide down his back as she loosened her pace on him slightly.

Before the Joker could do anything to stop her, candy dropped down on her knees as she continued gripping his hot, exposed, member.

The Joker gasped loudly. Oh gosh… how his selfish body wanted her to do this…

He placed his hands on the wall in front of him, resting his upper body weight on them against the wall. He gritted his as he groaned; she still held him in her hand and her hot breath on his exposure drove him mad. He opened his eyes and immediately saw hunger; he got a better view of the cleavage her dress pleasantly gave.

Candy closed her eyes as she first leaned in, and lightly kissed the side of his shaft, her lips barely grazing his sensitive skin.

The Joker hissed in a loud breath through his teeth as he squeezed his eyes shut in amazing torture. His hands were shaking against the pressure they added into the wall.

Candy then fully pressed her mouth on the side of him, taking care not to put too much pressure, and opened her mouth, breathing her hot breath on his quivering member. She then, teasingly, placed kisses all around his shaft, adding a bit of tongue probing here and there.

She was torturing him and she loved it.

She then moved her mouth to the base before her tongue barely grazed him from his base, all the way down his shaft to his head, dragging her tongue down it.

The Joker growled and moaned. He clenched his hands into fists against the wall leaning his forehead on it as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Candy grinned hopefully, knowing his unwilling mind was enjoying this. She moved her hand to grip the base of his shaft as she moved her wet lips to kiss his throbbing head; she could feel the torture of his pleasure mixing into a constant oblivion. She tightened her grip on him as she flicked her tongue against him before outlining the tip with her tongue.

The Joker at this point, let out a loud groan as he slammed his fist into the wall in frustration.

Candy quickly took his tip into her hot, wet, mouth and gently sucked, dragging her other hand up and down his large shaft. She swirled her tongue roughly around his head, probing, as she sucked on it, letting out a soft moan which caused vibrations through his member.

The Joker's right hand slowly slid down the wall and crept itself to the back of Candy's hair, digging his fingers in her scalp as she began to take more of him into her mouth. She sucked with the eagerness of a kid sucking a tootsie pop, desperately trying to get to the chewy middle (without biting though!). She grinned inside as her mouth worked him. She added more pressure with her tongue at times to really get him going; she made sure her mouth kept moving and was always doing tricks while he was inside it. As she could slide her hand up and down his becoming wet shaft (from her saliva) she would follow the would follow the movement of her hand with her mouth, moving her head forward and backwards as she swirled her tongue around him, taking more and more of him each time she went up and down his shaft.

He was _clearly_ enjoying this as he moaned profusely. His hand collected more of her hair as he started to use his hand to guide her head back and forth. He let out another deafening moan; he began to feel the way he did the first time he had his way with Nichole: power. With his hand forcibly guiding her he let out his anger in that action.

He slammed his fist in the wall again. This woman, Candy, was driving him mad! He opened his half shut eyes, still letting out the growls and moans through his clenched teeth, and stared at her at her work. For some reason, he also found himself even more turned on as he looked at her, pretending that it was Nichole who was performing this treacherous act on him.

His grip on the back of her head grew more and more demanding as he forced her to take almost all of him in. His fingers dug into the back of her head as he now moved her all the down on him, causing her to gag to his sick pleasure. He grinned and roughly continued to move her head and make her deep throat him with every push.

Candy gagged a few times, trying to make herself adjust to his harsh behavior. Her eyes began to water and her tears caused her makeup to stream down her face, making her look like a broken, hopeless, mess. Her hand clenching his slippery shaft practically touched the front of her lips as she moved her way up and down on him. The Joker's moaning and groaning got louder as she took all of him in each time. His hips then started moving the rhythm he made on her, shoving his pelvis forward to her each time she deep throated him and back out each time she moved up and sucked on his head.

He smiled and began to let out deep, groaning, laughs; this woman, Candy, was just too easy to take his frustration out on! Even as she pleasured him, he still had the power to still torture and let all of his anger out on her by her controls. Maybe Candy wasn't so bad after all…

His own thought of that made him furious, and he lunged her head forward and backward even harder.

"_Oh... Nikki…" _He groaned.

Tears were now freely streaming down Candy's face, smearing her makeup. She wasn't gagging as much anymore; she was crying at the fact that he was pretending it was Nichole instead of her.

_Am I only being used for please? Or will he realize it is me when he is finished?_

Candy's eyes shot open as he quickly slid himself out of her mouth. His hand tightened on the back of her head and she felt his breath in her ear.

"Hang on," he said, out of breath. He leaned back up and began to stagger backwards. Candy let out a yelp as he pulled her by her hair while she was on her knees to follow him. She let go of him as she made her knees move herself forward.

When the Joker felt the back of his legs hit the bed, he let go of Candy and tore the gloves off of his hands. As Candy caught her breath, be adjusted himself and his pants more comfortably. He then sat down and took the sides of Candy's face back in his now bare hands. His fingers dug into her skull and neared her head towards his erection.

"Okay… go!" he said breathlessly. Candy easy got the hint as his hands added more pressure to the back of her head, and continued doing what she did while she was on her knees against the wall. She placed her mouth over him and one hand at the base of his manhood. He guided her head roughly with his hands. He groaned loudly, letting out a wicked, satanic grin, and laid his back on the bed as his hands curled into her hair knotting it.

Candy squeezed her eyes shut as he thrust her head up and down and himself deeper and deeper into her mouth. She let out chocked shrieks as she gagged on him by reflex. She could feel him hit the back of her mouth every time he would use his hands to make her deep throat him.

_Oh God!_ She cried into her mind, _what have I done? Nichole… please forgive me! I'm sorry I ever got myself into this situation_

As Candy cried in her mind, she unknowingly let out gagged and choked sobs as her mouth worked him. Her makeup was now a streamy mess on her face from running with the tears. She continued to let out cries and gags as she allowed her head to be controlled by his greedy hands.

As the Joker's moans and grunts out louder and his fingers dug more into her scalp, Candy realized that it was almost over. She squeezed her eyes shut as he rammed himself deeper and deeper down her throat.

_This is the only good I can ever do for him… This is the only way he would ever want me_, Candy sobbed to herself. She felt so empty and yet she felt like she would burst at the same time; her emotions were unbearable and so out of proportion that words cannot even describe them.

"Oh….. Nichole…." He moaned out her other name as he came into her. He let go of Candy's head as he lay back down on the bed and arched his back. He lay there, panting and groaning.

The tears now rolled down her cheeks freely… That was the last suture that snapped in her broken heart. Still she continued to suck him and make sure he was finished before she placed her mouth off of him.

She gasped and let in a huge breath of air as she literally swallowed her regret.

__

Just as the Joker's pleasure faded, so did Candy as she had simply no more energy inside of her to continue to try and win the Joker's affection. She felt too defeated.

Nichole was able to blink her eyes once more and breathe by her own accord. She then screamed.

And she would not stop.

The high pitch scream raised the hairs on the back of the Joker's neck and brought him to his senses as he realized what was happening. With the pleasure gone, he could see that Nichole had returned and on the verge of having a heart attack.

She felt so disgusted. So _used._.. And so betrayed…

Her mouth burned with the taste of him inside it. Her tongue felt like a knife cutting up the delicate gums of her mouth and the bitter taste within it was acid on her teeth. Her stomach felt like it was on fire, and her head was swirling out of control. She felt so dizzy...so bizarre. Her vision went black for a moment, as if she stood up to quickly. Once her vision came back she continued to scream as scampered away from the position she was in between his legs and went to the opposite side of the room by a wall.

She turned around and slammed her fists of rage into the wall like clockwork she kneeled on the ground in utter shock and disgust.

Her hysterical cries filled the room. "Tell me this didn't happen. Tell me this didn't happen. TELL ME THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN!!!" It sounded as if she was dying. Hyperventilating. Within a room with no air. She stuck out her tongue and she ran her hands in a hurried motion over her tongue in an attempt to rid herself of his foul taste. "YOU FUCKING BITCH! I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU BOTH!" She screamed in a panting tone of voice.

The Joker remained on the bed in a sort of trance. He did not know what to do with himself or her for that matter.

Nichole crawled herself to the bathroom in his room, kicking the door shut before she got to the edge of the toilet in time to empty her stomach into it.

_At least that tasted better than him..... _She cried out in her mind.

She fell limply to the ground by the toilet and curled into fetal position. Every bone in her body felt heavy and her skin felt hard and numb.

All that had just happened replayed in her mind. The feeling of him inside of her mouth. The taste of-...

She suddenly lifted herself up and emptied her stomach once again into the toilet.

After a few moments of draining her stomach, she stood up with her legs shaking. Feeling lightheaded at the moment, Nichole took a step to the sink to rinse her mouth out with water. As soon as Nichole stood in front of the sink, she saw _her!_

The tramp herself was staring back at her, this time her makeup was true to her demise. She looked like a complete wreck; her face was red with humiliation and red and black eye makeup was running down her cheeks… even though the reflection was skewed, it was still _her._

Candy.

"NO!" Nichole screamed, horrified at the reflection. Now her anger burst as she slammed her fist (without thinking) into the mirror above the sink letting out a scream while doing so; destroying the effigy that had taken over the mirror; in the form of Candy. Glass imbedded into her skin as her fist drove its self into the mirror and the shattered pieces dug in her skin. Blood began to gush out of her wounds immediately. Her emotions, anger, disgust, and betrayal prevented her from feeling the pain.

Nichole let out a huffy breath through her trembling lips and the broken pieces of the mirror shattered into the sink below it. She looked down at the reflecting broken particles in the sink. Candy was still looking back at her.

"GET OUT OF ME! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! LEAVE MY BODY! JUST FUCKING LEAVE!" Nichole screamed in hysterics again as she saw she was wearing Candy's dress. The dress she was wearing suddenly felt like it was burning her skin. Nichole's screams of pain did not cease as she ripped the dress off of her, literally tearing it to pieces in the process. She then saw the sweatpants and tang top that she wore earlier and threw them on her shaking body.

She then ran to the shower and tore the shower curtain off of its clips and threw it behind her. She then took the un-attachable shower head and pulled on its cord, trying to get it to break off. But it would not budge. Even in her anger it was too much of a task for her. But as she pulled and pulled she started to calm her anger down slightly enough to be able to focus again on the taste that still lingered in her mouth.

She released the shower head from her hands and hunched over the sink. Turning it on, she cupped her unwounded hand under the stream of water before bringing it to her mouth; not bothering to let it collect within her mouth.

Just as she turned the sink off her anger overpowered her again. She took the shower curtain off the ground and threw it again at the wall. She threw all the items on the sink counter top to the ground. A growl released itself from her mouth as she then crossed her arms and slammed the side of her body into the wall. The loud pounding echoed off the small room's objects as she continued to slam herself into the wall.

After a few seconds the bathroom door was finally kicked open. "NICHOLE! STOP THIS! You are going to kill yourself!"

"I HOPE I FUCKING DO! ANYTHING TO GET ME OUT OF THIS FUCKED UP REALITY THAT SHOULD ONLY BE A NIGHTMARE!" She then began pounding her left fist into the wall as she continued to thrash herself against it; not looking at him as she spoke. All she could focus on was letting her put her anger, disgust, and horror.

The Joker then ran behind her and placed his hands on her hips trying to pull her away from the wall. She snapped at him, batting away his hands with her bloody ones as she turned and faced him.

She made damn well that what she screamed next was right in his face. "WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU STOP HER?!"

He looked at her with an unreadable emotion in his eyes. "Babe I-" he started.

"WHY THE FUCK DID YOU LET HER MAKE ME DO THAT?!" She screamed as the tears poured out of her eyes like rain would fall; steady and consistent. Her bloody hands turned to fists yet again as and she began to punch his chest and his face, smearing her blood on it. She ignored the searing pain of the glass continuing to dig into her fists as she punched him.

The Joker then wrapped his arms around her back and forced her into a hug, to crush her arms down to stop her from hitting him and wasting the little energy she had left. "Babe…I'm sorry....I just… I just got a little carried away! That's all-"

His tone sounded as if he was just saying sorry to shut her up.

"THAT'S ALL!?" She screamed in disbelief. She wiggled in his grasp trying to break free. "LET ME GO YOU SICK FUCK!"

"Babe I got carried away! I couldn't help myself. I couldn't control myself. She was just-..." He took one of his hands and placed it on the back of her head crushing it into his chest.

"Get off of me! Get your hands off of me! I hate you! I hate Candy! You fucking bitch!" She raged, muffled by the Joker's chest against her mouth.

"Not until you stop this!" He said loudly to make sure she heard.

"I won't!" She cried out. The anger in her voice was slowly starting to fade and sound more like pure hopelessness. "I'll never!"

The Joker then suddenly reached down and picked her fully up and walked into his bedroom. He placed her onto the bed and looked down at her.

She was screaming and kicking her legs out; tossing and turning in the bed in rage. It almost reminded him of her when she was first brought back from Arkham. He knew just leaving her like this was going to solve nothing. It would only worsen it, since it was the very setting of the incident.

He then picked her up again, with much difficulty since she was struggling to get away from him. But he kept a firm grip on her, not bothering to stop her as she clawed at his neck and hands. He walked down the two sets of stairs and through the living room. The whole time she did not stop crying or screaming once.

He then walked into the garage area and opened the passenger side door to his black van. He was able after a few attempts (since Nichole was placing her hands in the door frame to prevent him from getting her in the car) to place her into the seat and shut the door. Nichole tried to open the door a few times, so he stayed pressed against the outside of it preventing her from escaping the car, until she finally gave up and slide out of her seat and onto the floor in the small space where one would place their feet.

He dashed around the front of the car and got in. The Joker started the van and left the warehouse, driving at a slow (for him at least) speed down the roads.

Nichole sat there on the floor punching, with all the small amount of strength she had left, the seat cushion.

She let out another scream of rage. "I hate you! I hate you all! Just let me die! Just kill me!" She screamed over and over again. Her screamed eventually drowned into her cries.

Finally the last bit of her anger wore off and was replaced by depression and tears of sorrow. She rested her face on the side of the seat and bawled her eyes out. She could feel the seat become wet around the side of her face, and she felt very sticky. Her eyes felt like fountains producing droplets of water and never stopping.

She sobbed loudly, not caring if the Joker was angry with her or not. She didn't even pay any mind to him being the car with her. She didn't _want _to think about him for that matter.

"Get me away from you." She mumbled.

If there ever was a time to hate Candy the most...this was it. Her hate for Candy certainly overpowered her hate for the Joker...but not by much of course.

_Candy. Why.....Why do you make my life into hell? Why do you cause me this pain? I tell you I have done nothing to you! _Nichole screamed in her mind.

Candy answered, crying as well. _Nichole! You idiot you know nothing! You don't even bother to think of my feelings! I didn't ask to share bodies with you! If we did not share it I would have nothing against you at all! But you don't know what it feels like to be me! To be unwanted....to be rejected by the one I love and to watch him right before my very eyes do things to a person right in front of me! You don't know what it's like Nichole!_ She sobbed.

_It's not my fault and you know it! I didn't ask for him to do anything to me! I didn't ask for this! I want nothing to do with him! He ruined my life!_ Nichole shot back.

_Then if your life is ruined let me take over! I can take away your pain, if you just were to disappear and be what I am most of the time. Let you be the dormant one. Eventually you won't even feel anything! Just do that for me! Please Nichole, just give it and let me out! _She pleaded._ I love him!_

_If you think that I would EVER do something for you, you are out of your mind! _Nichole lashed.

Candy remained silent for a moment before responding. _So be it....Let it be war upon you both! _

Nichole sniffled as her tears lessened and lessened, but still came out once every few moments. Her head felt like it was a boulder placed upon her shoulders, weighing her down.

_Nichole? _Candy choked. _Oh my gosh…_ she began to sob again, _I am so sorry… I can feel everything that you are feeling now, and I can tell you this: it is almost the same way I feel. I honestly wish that I could make everything I did earlier disappear before our eyes… You have no idea how shitty I feel. I feel so used! He'll never love me and never want me without wanting you! I thought that if I could get him to see that I can pleasure him as much as you can that maybe he would wind up wanting me after all- AND I'M SO SORRY I DID THAT! I'm not only sorry for your sake, but I'm also sorry for mine. I feel so stupid and ashamed that I hurt us with my hope… I know you hate me now, but just know that I am feeling your pain; you're not alone on this one this time Nichole._

Nichole remained dazed for a few minutes after Candy said this. She was speechless.

Part of Nichole was loving and enjoying to hear Candy in pain. The other half could slightly understand where Candy was coming from. But Nichole had a hunch that Candy was either faking her sorrow and apology or she was just a very bipolar person. She figured by tomorrow or the next day Candy would return to her normal unkind, Nichole hating self.

To no longer dwell on Candy, she finally lifted herself up off the ground and onto the passenger seat. She sat upright and then leaned her back onto the backboard of the seat, letting her bottom slide forward so she sort of lay lazily upright.

She then stealthily tried to reach her hand over and open the door but it was on safety lock.

She felt the Joker's eyes take note of what she was doing. "Are you still going to try and kill yourself? Or are you done?" He asked.

Ignoring his question she scowled. "W-Why are we driving? Where a-a-are we going?" She had running thoughts in the back of her head about the last time she had randomly been thrown into his van.

He kept one hand tightly on the steering wheel and the other on his lap and he turned to look at her for a moment as he said, "Isn't this suppose to help?" He asked.

"What?"

"Well...Isn't this what people do when people are crying? Drive them around in the middle of the night. Take in the scenery." He waved a hand in the air pointing out the windows.

Nichole looked out the front window ahead of her, at the dark streets of Gotham City. It was around eight or nine at night, so the nightlife had come out and the bright neon lights of building trying to beckon in costumers had been turned on and the drunks had started their walks around the blocks.

She furrowed a brow. Her tears still flowed down her face and she let out a cough. "That's for infants."

"Come again?"

"Mothers take their infants out for nightly drives when they are crying...not grown adults." She rolled her eyes irritably at him.

He muttered something under his breath. "Well...It worked for you." He then reached over and wiped a tear off her cheek roughly.

"I said don't touch me!" She snapped, smacking his hand away.

"Look! How many times do I have to say it? I did not mean for that to happen it just did. It's kind of like the situation with you and me a few nights ago. So I'm sorry alright?" He either sounded as if he wasn't honesty sorry or he just did not like admitting he was sorry about something.

"I don't believe you."

"What?! Do you want me to spell it out for you? I could easily with the blood that is flowing out of your knuckles! You could have killed yourself or ended up breaking your hands, and then what?"

"I don't care." She said flatly.

"Here let me see them." He pulled over and stopped the car. The Joker took one hand and extended it out in the air towards her.

"No."

"I said let me see." He then reached down and grabbed a hold of her right, bloody hand and yanked it by the wrist into his line of sight. He stared at it intently for a few moments. "You are definitely one lucky person to not have broken your hands." He started to pick some of the embedded glass out of it.

She yanked her hand free of his, starting to feel the pain in her knuckles so suddenly. She leaned her head on the window next to her and began to cry hysterically again. Her hands lay limp on her legs. "I would rather die from an infection." She said.

"Oh no Nikki, don't start this again!" The Joker said in a slight panic. He was out of all ideas on how to calm her down. He started the car and continued driving again.

Nichole's body started to slide off the seat limply again, so the Joker slammed his foot on the break and reached over taking Nichole and placing her now limp on his lap. He had to push his seat back a little since the steering wheel was squishing the two of them.

She was laying more vertical on him. Her legs overlapped his and ran down between his where they split to have one foot on the gas pedal and the other on the break. She was seated on his lap, with her hands lying on his leg like broken dangling arms. The side of her face was against his upper chest. He kept one hand on the steering wheel the other around her waist keeping her to him as he drove down more streets whose names escaped him at the moment. He stroked her sides as her cries sounded as if she couldn't breathe.

"Nichole I don't know what to do with you." He spoke. "Even though Candy might have given me a better reason to keep you around."

Anything he said, as well as any noises she heard coming from the car itself, suddenly sounded so distant to her. She could hear them clearly, but it was almost as if she was plugging her ears and causing the sounds to be slightly muffled.

"Shoot me..." She said in but a whisper.

"I can't do that now can I?" He patted her side, giggling. "Gosh, you are so weak."

She weakly tried to shuffle herself off of him and towards the space between the driver's seat and passenger seat.

He stopped the car.

"No you don't." He then let go of her waist and let that hand be on the steering wheel while he took his other hand off the steering wheel and let it grab hold of one of her hands, making sure to avoid contact with her knuckles. "Nichole it won't happen again alright? I promise. I didn't intend for that to happen at all." He sighed.

"Then why were you fucking enjoying it then?" Nichole hissed.

The Joker laughed. "Don't you remember our conversation last night, Nichole? I am still human!"

After a few more minutes, the Joker finally was back at the warehouse. He pulled in the garage and it shut behind them. He let go of the steering wheel and her, but she remained on his lap; too weak to get up.

He started to open the door and attempt to stand up and take hold of her.

She stopped him by clinging to the steering wheel and with her words, "I'm not sleeping in that room. Please...I can't. Not tonight."

He then shut the door again and sat there silently for a moment. "And where do you propose to sleep?" He asked curiously.

"In the back of the van? I don't know." She sighed. "Just please...I can't. If I go back into that room tonight I would start to cry and scream and I don't know when I would stop."

The Joker stayed silent for a moment before responding in a booming voice, "Back of the van it is!"

He took hold of her and managed to push her through the space between the drivers and passenger's seat into the back of the van. This van had no seats in the back, more of just a flat surface to store things in with two indents lining the sides of the van that would be a tiny bench-like seat for anyone. More like a jail transport car's style seating but much smaller since the flat area took up most of the room.

The Joker left the van suddenly and Nichole sat there in silence. She looked around the medium sized area and had a sigh of relief sweep over her as she realized the Joker was allowing her to stay in the van instead of his room. Really she had not been lying, if she were to go back into his room she would start screaming and running what had happened earlier through her mind repeatedly.

Just as she was going to lie down the back door to the van opened and the Joker was standing there holding a cloth, a single blanket and pillow. She was able to take note that they were not from his room which pleased her.

He climbed into the back of the van and shut the door behind him. He set the pillow down on the floor and sat down next to Nichole.

"What are you doing?" She asked without thinking.

"What does it look like I am doing? Getting ready to sleep." He said, looking at her as if she was stupid.

She blinked. "What-"

"Oh come on now! You didn't think I'd let you be in here by yourself did you? It doesn't take a genius to figure out how to break a car key lock and drive away."

"So you are sleeping in here with me?" She asked stupidly. She hadn't meant to ask that but she just did.

"Yes is that an issue? It's not like you haven't sleep with me before." He winked. He then stared at her intently for a moment. "....Your face is all smudged by your red makeup." He said looking at her with a tilted head. "If you were walking around looking like this someone might try to pick you up and mistake you for a whore." He laughed loudly.

He reached over and rubbed at a spot of her face below her eye. When he retreated his hand, sure enough Nichole could see the red makeup on his fingers. He rubbed his finger on his pant leg removing it from him.

He then handed her the cloth. Nichole realized that it was for her bleeding hand and she tied it around her hand, biting back the cries of pain that tugged her vocal chords.

The Joker then laid himself down, resting his head on the small pillow. Nichole could see that his face was still covered in her blood from when she hit him earlier. "Well are you sleeping in here or not?" He asked, clearly amused.

Nichole then quickly laid herself down fearing he would change his mind about letting her sleep in the van, her head barely managing to find a spot on the pillow that the Joker's head did not consume. The Joker reached down and pulled the blanket over them.

The floor wasn't as terribly uncomfortable as she thought it would be. It was padded by car floor mats, but it still wasn't as comfortable as his bed (she loathed to admit it). But she didn't mind in the least. Her head was comfortable on the pillow and the blanket was warming her so she was set.

She was thankful in her mad rush to lay down she managed to lay down facing away from him. She stared off into the darkness of the van walls, and looked up at the windows. From the angle she was at she could barely see the tops of shelves with boxes lining them and overhead lights that were dimmed quite a lot.

The Joker wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her body to him. He rested his head on the back of hers, with his tilted slightly so his mouth was by her ear. "Babe you do realize that I really meant it when I said I was sorry right? It's not something I say often and I never lie with saying a sorry. So it's rare for me to do it. I mean it and I didn't mean to have that happen or get that far. But I am a man Nichole. It was just too hard to resist. I am tellin' ya: I am sorry." His tone almost did not sound sincere, but when did it ever? His tone of voice sounded angry when he was happy. Sad when he was really amused...

"I believe you." She said out loud. More for her benefit than his, but she wouldn't say _that_ part out loud.

"Well good for you!" He boomed sarcastically, as if he did not care at all if she believed him or not, even though just seconds ago it did sound as if he cared and wanted her to believe him. "Maybe we should celebrate this event! You for once believing me." He laughed. "Maybe we should see if you can do things better than Candy." He patted her side, still laughing at what he was inquiring.

_He is such an asshole!_ She thought to herself. She decided not to respond to him and egg him on with fighting words.

She drifted to sleep rather quickly, paying no mind to him against her backside. Her crying fit had caused her energy to be almost none, so she figured that was why it was so easy for her to drift off to sleep.

In her dreaming state of mind, Nichole had a nightmare. It wasn't about the Joker though, but of Candy.

Nichole and Candy were standing on the edge of a large cliff. Nichole looked over it and saw it was pitch black and she could not see the bottom. She didn't know how she knew that the cliff, (but it was simply because it was a dream so it was dream logic we are talking about here) It was an endless pit.

Candy then shoved Nichole from behind off the cliff. A scream escaped Nichole's mouth as she was thankfully able to grab hold of the cliff's edges and hang off it. "NO!" She cried out as Candy stood above her on the edge of the cliff.

She grinned evilly looking down at her. "Well Nichole why are you just hanging around here?"

"Why are you doing this?! Don't let me fall please!" Nichole pleaded. "I'll do anything!"

"It's too late to beg. You had it coming. I am in control now!" Candy started to laugh as she stepped on one of Nichole's hand.

Nichole screamed as she saw Candy's shoes had spikes on them and Nichole whole hand started to bleed and she let go of the ledge.

Nichole then spotted the Joker standing a distance away behind Candy. He was staring in horror at the scene. "HELP ME!" Nichole cried to him.

The Joker started running towards them, but as he ran it was almost as if he was in slow motion or just making no distance at all.

Then Nichole felt a stinging pain in her other hand and saw Candy had driven her spiked shoe into that hand as well. She could not hold on any longer.

...and Nichole fell.

She screamed out for the Joker and cursed at Candy. She fell into the darkness that never ended. Her stomach was soaring as she continued to gain speed. She was facing upwards and saw the light above slowly start to fade as she fell deeper and deeper down into the earth.

She spun herself around and then saw it.

Flames pouring up from the fiery pits of hell. The flames were getting closer and closer. They started to burn her.

Just as she was about to hit the flames, Nichole woke up screaming.

"Candy no! No! No! No!" She started to move her hands and feel herself, to make sure that she was not harmed and she was still in control of her body. She looked at her hands in the darkness and saw no blood.

"Nichole?" The Joker bolted up in his sleep, and took out his knife in a sleepy daze. He clicked it open, but then saw she was sitting there sobbing and put it away. "What's wrong?" His voice sounded tired and he sniffed at the air trying to wake up.

Nichole then started to cry as silently as she could, but her flat out sob came out.

The Joker then wrapped his tired arms around Nichole as he pushed her into his chest. "I didn't know I could be scarier in dreams than I am in real life." He said to her, figuring she dreamed of him.

From his tone of voice it was painfully obvious he was half asleep. She wondered if he would remember this in the morning or forget about it.

"It wasn't you." Nichole said in almost a whisper. Her sobs started to fade just a little, but not by much. "It was her."

That was more than enough to be said from Nichole, for the Joker to understand what she meant. He then lay down, and Nichole fell next to him with one arm landing across his chest. He wrapped one arm around her shoulder and held her to him. Her face was on the side of his upper chest, causing a small patch of water to appear under the side of her face; a mixture of her sweat and tears.

"I'm sorry." Nichole said, fearing she upset him.

"She's becoming a problem." He said in a sigh. He started to sound more awake and aware of his actions and surroundings.

"You're telling me." She muttered, hoping he would not hear.

He heard her though and started to chuckle. "She prevented me from doing what I wanted to do with you when I got home."

"What would that be?" She asked._ It couldn't have been worse than what happened today. _She thought.

"Well...It doesn't matter now." He patted her side.

"Yeah." Was all she responded with.

"You better now?" He asked, tilting his head down at her.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes with the hand that had been on his chest, and then returned it without thinking to his chest. He of course noticed this and had to bite his tongue to prevent the smile on his face....But then he remembered he was in the darkness of the van so he let his smile run wide and smug.

"Yes I am better now. Sorry I woke you." She tried to sound all sweet and sincere about it.

"Well from your screams I was thinking that maybe someone was breaking in the van or the cops were here. But then I find you crying sitting up and I figured out you only had a nightmare." He said.

"Only a nightmare? They are terrifying! It's not a simple little dream....They are in my head every night. It just so happens that this one was more severe than other nights."

He rubbed her sides. "Shh shh calm down. I was only kidding you. Now get some sleep. Just don't have a nightmare again and wake up screaming. You are lucky I didn't drive my knife into you. That tends to be my reaction to being woken up."

* * *

It took Nichole a moment to realize she was not laying in the van, but on a comfortable bed. She quickly shot up and saw she was in Jasper's room laying under his comforters on his bed. She rubbed her eyes and felt an instant pain as she pressed pressure accidently into her wrapped hand. She saw the blood stains that had seeped through the cloth in the morning light. She glanced at the clock and saw it was nine in the morning.

Then she noticed there, sitting against the wall fast asleep was Jasper. He had on a new pair of glasses and in his hands were a gun and a can of mace.

"Jasper." Nichole called to him.

He didn't move nor wake up.

"Jasper!" Nichole called louder this time.

Jasper jumped in his sleep and awoke. He blinked a few times adjusting to the light before meeting eyes with Nichole and flinching. "This better be Nichole. I am warning you I got a gun!" His voice sounded shaky.

Nichole could see a visable bruise on the side of his face from where Candy punched him.

"Jasper...I am SO sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. I couldn't control myself....Candy is...was...is too strong! I would never hurt you on purpose! Please forgive me! I am so sorry!" She pleaded.

Jasper eyed her up and down for a moment before slightly relaxing in his tense position. "Okay...Okay it's fine. I know you didn't mean it...but damn...I am sore today. And you are just lucky I have a spare set of glasses." He winked at her, his tone of voice returning to normal.

Nichole relaxed as well, feeling very happy that he forgave her. It suddenly dawned on her though.....

"Why am I in your room?"

"Oh. Early this morning boss carried your sleeping self in here and then he gave me a gun. He told me if Candy were to come out and get out of control to show this off as a warning and also to use...so um...you don't run away." He gave an apologitic smile to her.

"Run away?" Nichole tilted her head.

"Yeah since he's going to be away for a couple of days-"

Nichole cut him off. "He's not going to be here for a couple of days!? WHAT!? WHY!" A smile appeared as quick as a flash on her face.

Jasper jumped yet again, but this time due to her unexpected outburst of happiness. "Jeez jeez take it easy." He winked. "Yeah he's going to be gone for a few days. He has to set up some stuff and do some stuff and it would be a hassle for him to keep coming back and forth from where they are. Its on the other side of town so they just be staying at a hotel or something."

"How long?!" She laughed in joy.

"Give or take two days." Jasper shrugged.

"Two days is good enough for me." Nichole smiled proudly, thinking of two whole days without the Joker around.

* * *

**Kait:** oh fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck this. I press the update butten.....and it goes "Please log in to acess this page"... All my editing things down the drain and i had to start over. _(shoots self)_ Anywho. So again all credit for that certain section goes directly to Sydney. I had no basis for it or rough draft. She did it from scratch, unlike the other sections she adds and rewrites my horible setences and shit here and there. I am sooo proud of her and think she did a fantabulous job. And i wish i could type more but i feel like my room is spinning.

**Syd:** Hahahahahahh babe!_ (hugs)_ well thank you so much... but yes _(ahem)_ Kait and I don't like to use... "explicit" words for certain things... so we refer to that as the "Umbrella Scene" (don't ask.. we just randomly thought of it) Well I really hope you enjoy, I apologize if that section freaked out anymore.. it's the most pornographic thing I've written! _(hides)_ Please PLEASE review and tell us what you think! Kait and I were a little nervous about posting this.


	45. Point of No Return

**Kait:** We are doing something we have never done once in this story so far, and most likely this is going to be the only time it happens. Seriously. **What is going to happen for one scene in this chapter the point of view is going to switch over to first person through Nichole's eyes.** It is a very important scene which sets the mood and stage for the rest of the story in a way, so I thought it would be very important for it to be through her eyes. This seriously is going to be the only time it is through her eyes in the story and its just one section. I just felt like everyone really needs to see and hear everything she thinks.

**Sydney:** ANNNNNDD! We have THREE pieces of BIG news for you! But you can learn about them at the end of the chapter! _(grins)

* * *

_

"So you're sure it's going to be two days?" Nichole pestered Jasper for the seventh time in the past few minutes, as she sat on the kitchen table, waiting for him to carry over the plate of warm French toast.

He sighed. "Nichole! I told you already. Don't take my word for it on the two day thing! It could be two, it could be a week for all I know girl! He didn't bother to tell me. He just dumped you in my room, went upstairs for a little, and then was off." He placed the plate of steamy goodness in front of her and then placed his own plate in front of the seat next to hers at the table. He sat himself down and picked up his silverware to begin to dive into his syrupy creation.

"Well....I'm sorry… I just want to be sure. I don't want to have him walk in when I least expect it like yesterday!" She picked at a piece of toast, plopping it into her mouth before daring to ask another question. Her mind was buzzing with them and her curiousity was demanding her to ask them. "So...How was he carrying me?"

Jasper tilted his head and spoke through his food in his mouth. "What?"

"I just want to know how he was carrying me....How did I look? Was I half asleep? What time was it?!" Nichole could not stop the questions for pouring out. She held the firm desire to know everything, since the whole situation was very fishy. He normally would never straight up leave without telling her or mocking her, and even at that he had placed her in Jasper's bed, instead of his own where Nichole had been protesting against the previous night.

He _listened_ to her....which raised speculation for her.

"Look!" Jasper spoke out, sending bits of food from his food to the table. He then smiled at her at his ridiculous attempt to sound upset with her. He patted her shoulder and swallowed the food in his mouth. "From what I saw, which was not a lot since I was half asleep; you were in his arms sleeping very deeply. Now I personally think he was carrying you very gently trying not to wake you, but that may just be my interpretation. Anyways he shoved me out of my bed and put you in it and then as I told you earlier what he said to me, and then he left."

"Jasper I am sorry I am bugging you...but I just find it strange that he would leave without telling me. It's not that I mind it, believe me I am so grateful he is going to be gone for a bit, but it strikes me very odd in the manner he left; without telling me. Normally he would mock me or something, but not even a note?"

"Well I am not sure; maybe he didn't feel up to bugging you at that moment. I mean, him driving you around last night must have worn him dry." Jasper pointed his fork at her with the toast hanging off the end, the syrup dripping off onto the table messily. "I was up, when I heard you screaming and fussing and then I heard your screaming going down the stairs into the garage and then the van leaving. I gotta admit I thought you weren't coming back. But-...OH NOTE!" Jasper jumped up and raced for the fridge. "Aye! I forgot! He did leave you a note Nichole! I'm sorry, I am just so tired I forgot! And the note is exciting!"

He passed the note to her, and she unfolded the crumpled up yellow lined note. There, written in the Joker's unmistakable handwriting was:

_Babe,_

_Gone for a few days. I expect you in one piece when I return._

_No time to explain where I am or what I am doing and it doesn't concern you._

_If you try to leave, Jasper will shoot you. You may have warmed up to him, but he still is under __my__ control._

_You are going to be escorted by him and two other men to see Gordon today._

_I expect that favor I want when I get back. By then I may have one for you to do._

_-J_

Scattered throughout the note, were scratch marks of his pen and circles, as if he had been writing something but did not like how it sounded and crossed it off. The other things looked as if he had been drawing little doodles on it idly while thinking.

She stared blankly at the note in her hand and was in utter shock. "I'm going to see Gordon?" She asked more herself in disbelief than to Jasper. "Jasper...You didn't forge this note? It's real, right?"

He nodded at her happy expression that was forming on her face. She sprung up and hugged Jasper. "Oh my goodness! I am so happy!" She cheered; her stomach raising and filling with happiness.

As her hand wrapped around Jasper's shoulder she felt instant pain in it. She winced, pulling away from him and glanced at her bloody bandaged hand. "Ouch!"

Jasper glanced down at the wound and took her wrist of that hand carefully. "But before we talk about going to see Gordon...Let's fix this hand of your's....What happened?" He sat her back down and began to unravel the red stained cloth.

She laughed nervously but then yelped in pain as the cloth was removed to show her bloody, glass infested, swollen hand. "Well...Last night Candy did something...that…." She felt her stomach start to shake, "…well… I let my anger out on the walls....and mirrors." She started to think of last night, but pushed it to the back of her mind, as Jasper picked out glass pieces that remained embedded in her skin with tweezers.

"Tut, Tut. Not a smart move. You could have almost broken your hand."

"That's what the Joker said to me. But...I was out of control. I couldn't help it." She sighed.

"Just like you were when you attacked me." Jasper muttered under his breath.

Nichole placed her free hand on his shoulder. "I am very sorry about that Jasper. I am sorry she was able to take control of me and hurt you. I promise I'll make it up to you one day. I'll pay for your glasses somehow." She smiled at him.

"Nawh don't worry about it. But next time you tell me to get out, I will listen to your warnings." He chuckled removing the last piece of glass from her skin. "Hmm, most of the glass is out, so all you need is for this to be wiped off and new bandages."

"Yeah, he picked most of it out last night in the van." She stood up and walked over to the sink, turning on the hot water. She couldn't hide a hiss of pain that escaped her lips as she rinsed her hand under the water. She sunk her teeth into her lip as she carefully dabbed her hand with a paper towel.

Jasper came up behind her within a few moments with a first aid kit. After the antibiotics, ointments, and bandages were placed on her hand, he returned to his seat and finished up his food.

"So about today...everything is planned out. Gordon knows you are meeting up with him...Don't ask how! The Joker just told me he will know. And I have the address of where we are meeting up with him, so all that is going to happen is we are taking a van there. Two other guys are coming with us. They are...my muscles in a sense of the matter." He joked. "They be like my intimidation to the Commissioner. I have to beg you Nichole to not try and escape when I am supposed to look after you. Please don't...because he ordered me to shoot you in the leg if you try to and I don't know if I could....and then I'd either have to tell my two lackeys too, or let you go and then I'd be in so much trouble. So please...Don't try and escape! I'm begging you!" Jasper put his hands together as if he was praying.

"Jasper! I won't! I promise! I wouldn't have anywhere to go besides!" She smiled, at the thought of seeing Gordon in a matter of hours. "I must ask...though...this is rare. I never expected the Joker to let me go to see him! Something must be up...This can't be without a catch. I mean I know he wants me to do him this 'favor' or whatever, which I know won't be good, but even at that....If he really wanted the favor he would just force me to do it without letting me see Gordon."

"Psh" Jasper swatted the air, "I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe it's just a way of him saying sorry for last night or something...whatever went on between you two." He narrowed his eyes suspiciously and then burst out into a fit of laughter. "Anyways girl...In order to keep you undercover in Gotham city, I have a wig you can wear. No one will recognize you! And why don't you just go through my room and find an outfit to wear...Something is bound to fit you! I actually have to go to the mall in two days so maybe if the Joker still isn't back you could come with me in that wig and we can buy you some real clothing. All you have is summer clothing and I mean damn girl it's winter! Do you even know what day it is? It's Christmas Eve for Pete's sake!" He chanted. "Besides…" he said as he eyed her clothing, "you need a sexy outfit!"

"Christmas eve? Oh dear...That must be why the Joker is gone. He is going to cause terror on the holidays. Great." She rolled her eyes. "And...are you sure? I mean I don't think the Joker would like it if he found out you were going to take me out into a public setting."

"I don't mind at all. Besides, you will be in disguise and it will be so busy for the holiday rush that nobody will be stopping to look at you. We can go on the day after Christmas. I have to buy stuff for the New Years Eve party we are having here."

"New Years Eve party? Here? The Joker is letting you have a party?" Her mouth slightly fell open.

"Well...technically....this place...this warehouse is mine. I lived in it before the Joker came here, and when I became his goon and let him stay here he still let me do whatever I wanted to the place, since he doesn't care about his living quarters as long as it fits his needs to sleep, eat, and hold his supplies. I asked him if I could throw the party and he said yes. Of course this was a while back...and he was busy at the time so I don't know if he still remembers...but I am going through with it damn it!"

She laughed at him, and then put a faked pain expression on her face. "Well Jasper I do believe I was not invited to this party." She could not hold in the laughter that picked up.

"Of course you're invited...unless of course you and the Joker are going to be out that day. Seriously though...I am not sure if he is just going to book it that day and stay at a hotel, and take you with him cause I doubt he would come down to party. Picture him getting jiggy with it...that's an image that could bleed your eyes!" He gasped, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

"Great...Now I bet he's going to do that. Jasper, now you are going to have me worried he's going to drag me to some hotel!"

"Okay okay okay you. Go take a shower in the second floor bathroom first things first. I didn't tell you this earlier since I was not sure if you would get mad at me for it, but you got red eye makeup all over your face, along with blood. After that grab some clothing in my room you can change into and use to wear. I got your wig and a scarf down here and my jacket you can wear. Be down in an hour and a half kay? We gotta meet him at a certain time." He smiled.

Nichole was so happy, she did not even mind the fact Candy's makeup was still on her face. She literally bounced out of her seat and up the stairwell to pick out some random clothing in Jasper's closet to wear.

Once she was out of Jasper's sight, a frown appeared on his face as he walked over into a cabinet in the kitchen and pulled out and small chip, no bigger than a peanut shell. He peered at the chip, and glared at it as if it was an infectious disease. He walked over to his jacket that hung on a coat stand by the entrance to the kitchen and placed the small chip in the hood of the coat, making sure the Velcro back to the chip stuck nice and well to the jacket's interior hood. He patted it around, to make sure it was not visible to the naked eye.

Then he went over and sat in the living room, deciding to watch the television to take his mind off of persuading itself to reach back into the jacket and remove the small microchip.

After around an hour, he soon heard the patter of Nichole fast walking down the stairs to meet Jasper. "I'm ready!" She chimed at him. "I swear, I should get an award for washing my hair and body with one hand… I had to stick this baby outside the curtain the whole time!" She grinned as she waved her bandaged hand in the air.

Jasper chuckled, "Well you might be surprised, but us men can do _a lot _of things with one hand!"

He stood up and looked her over, reaching for the jacket. She had put on a pair of his black jeans and simple white shirt and sweatshirt she managed to find. He smiled at her. "Damn you look good in my designer wear, girl!"

She chuckled. Jasper then handed her his jacket, resisting the urge to rip the bug he had been forced to plant into it out.

She put it on and snuggled in its warmth for a moment. "I love your jacket....but won't you be cold?"

He decided to make a joke, more so to calm his guilt than to humor her. "Oh… don't worry hun....When I see the Commissioner I think I will be warmed up." He winked.

She chuckled at his joke, and then peered around the room. "So where is this wig you have for me? Are you sure it's going to work?"

He batted a hand in the air. "If it doesn't work then may lightening strike me down." He left the room for a moment and returned moments later with a something behind his back. "Okay I need you to sit down so I can put this on you properly." He held his grin.

She sighed and went into the kitchen sitting down at a chair. She suddenly felt her hair being drawn up into a pony tail or bun, and glanced behind her to see Jasper with a hair tie in his hand. He shooed away her glance. "No peeking!"

After feeling a cap shaped object go over her head like a hat, she was able to see out of the corner of her eyes he had placed a tan see through cap on her head. It was something people who wore wigs would use to bunch their actual hair in, to prevent it from being visible underneath the wig.

_Jasper's serious about this! _Nichole thought happily. _Well, it is a good thing though. If it stops me from being seen.....I'll take any precautions._

"Where and when did you get a wig anyways Jasper?" Nichole asked, as she felt the wig being placed on her head.

Jasper placed his hands on her shoulders and made her stand up and face him. He adjusted the hair and placed strands in front of her face. "Okay perfect! And lucky for you I have a few wigs. Don't ask. Now take a look at you in the mirror! No one will be able to tell! Of course you can wear this black scarf up by your mouth and cheek to hide the scar. It will be perfect!" Jasper smiled placing her in front of a mirror that hung on the wall in the hallway; it was shattered, but held enough space for her to see herself in.

There in the mirror stood a woman with a long black hair and straight bangs cutting across her forehead to hide it. The black hair caused her to look almost like a new person, except for the fact that she had a huge J shaped scar on the side of her face.

"Jasper! I don't look a thing like myself!" She exclaimed aloud, by accident; unable to contain her amazement. "And this wig doesn't even itch!"

He patted the top of her head. "That's the point mi chicka!" He went to the table to pick up the black scarf and place it on her, but she held up a hand in protest.

"Can I please put it on once we are in the van? I kinda want to feel fresh air against my face for the first time in a week, so I want to go to the vans without it on. Do you mind?" She asked sweetly.

"Heh no I don't mind." He placed the scarf in her hands and they both walked out of the building through a side entrance. Once outside, Nichole took deep inhales of Gotham's cold chilled air and felt herself relax for a moment. She saw the van parked a bit off to the side. She wished she could remain outside and feel the air against her skin some more, but Jasper was already leading her into the van. He let her ride in the passenger seat, while he took the driver's seat.

Nichole could see that sitting idly in the back were two other guys, smoking and looking absolutely bored out of their minds. She tried her best to ignore the fact they were in the van and buckled herself in tightly. As she did, she noticed the red stains that were on the seat she was seated on and winced.

She placed the scarf around her neck and positioned it so it covered her mouth and her cheek with the scar on it; using the side view mirror to check and see if it was on well enough.

As they strolled into town, she felt a great weight off her shoulder whenever they would be at a stop light and if someone happened to glance at her they did not recognize her. The whole town itself seemed even more wrecked than she remembered. The entire vibe it gave off was fear and solemn.

When they reached the docks about a half hour later, Nichole could hardly contain her enthusiasm. As they pulled into an alleyway, her eyes scanned her surroundings a few times before they finally landed on a distinct object…

There, a dark figure was leaning against the wall…

_Gordon!_

Nichole's face felt unbearably hot as her heart leapt in her throat.

His head turned at the van approaching, and he saw a dark haired woman's tear stained face.

She yearned to run out and hug him, but had to look at Jasper searching his expression to see if she could or not.

He smiled, and shooed her. "Go on! Go on!" He paused for a moment, before remembering the sentence the Joker had asked him to say out loud, so it would be heard clear and well by the microchip. "Go on and see Gordon, Nichole."

Nichole threw open her door, and raced out; hearing Jasper tell the other two men to stand around and be the look outs.

She dashed towards Gordon, who upon seeing Nichole in her wig and scarf had to raise an eyebrow before he realized it was really her. He half jogged to her and they met in a well overdo hug.

Nichole could not keep herself together and sobbed into Gordon's trench coat. She took bunches his coat into her fists and let her emotions out. She couldn't remember the last time she was held and had held somebody so tightly. She breathed in his sent on his coat as the tears escaped her eyes; they were both shaking.

They pulled apart but stood less than arms distance away. He held onto her shoulders. The smile on his face vanished suddenly as he looked closer at her. During their embrace, her scarf had fallen off her face and now was slipping off her neck. He grabbed hold of one of its ends and pulled it off completely to examine what had caught his attention.

There on her neck were visible bruises in the form of hands, scratch marks, and worst of all hickeys and bite marks, that had surely bled when they were first received. His mouth fell open at the sight as he was able to realize what they all meant. His face paled as his kind blue eyes watered behind his glasses.

"He...got to you...He did that to you again." He ran his fingers over every part of her battered neck that he could touch.

Nichole's smile faded from her face as she looked down to see what he meant, but the slight pain that tingled her neck as he pressed down on her bruise made her realize what he was looking at. She could only silently nod, thinking it was not in her best interest at this very moment to tell Gordon about the last time the Joker and her had sex and how different it was from the other times....How she had given into his pleasure and supplied him with some as well.

_No...I cannot tell him that. He knows I am crazy as it is...but if he finds that out he may think I am on the Joker's side... He cannot know._ She thought to herself, biting her lip to stop herself from shaking.

Gordon quickly took her in his arms again after peering back up at her scar on her face. He began to sob silently; trying to contain his emotion, by keeping his voice steady to the best of his ability. "Nichole. I am so sorry. I am so sorry I let him get to you again. I am so sorry for everything. It's my fault. I'm sorry." He tightened his hold on her, shaking in his spot.

The guilt this man felt, made Nichole's heart ache so much that it felt like it had been ripped from her chest and poorly sewn back in. "Gordon it's not your fault!" She squeaked.

"Yes it is! If only I tried harder! If only I could have figured out what you meant before that court case and stopped the trial. Maybe then you would be safe and not-...."

His voice broke as he buried his face into her hair.

"Oh the trial!" he sobbed hysterically. He was shaking violently. "There are n-no w-w-words to express…. The ag-agony I felt when I saw you helplessly on trial- and your marks! I can never get them out of my head! It's my fault that he…." He couldn't even say it.

Nichole pulled away from him, and looked into his crystal blue eyes. "Gordon please stop!" She choked. "None of this is your fault....Please don't feel guilty for things that are out of your control! It's not your fault and I never thought any of it was. Please....Do not think like that. PLEASE!" She begged. "I cannot even move right now, just at the thought of you weighing yourself down with this guilt. It's not your guilt to feel! I should feel guilt Gordon, for causing all this to happen to you!"

"Nichole don't even say-"

"Ahem." A voice behind Nichole and Gordon said. They glanced behind and saw Jasper with a grin on his face. "Well so much for introductions."

Nichole sniffled and couldn't hold back a sad laughed. "Oh sorry. Gordon, this is Jasper. He's one of the Jo-" She realized how suspicious that sounded, so she thought out her sentence more before she spoke again. "...He's one of the Joker's men. But before you think anything...He's really nice Gordon. I mean it." She looked at Jasper and smiled and then back to Gordon. "I think that Jasper is the only thing keeping me sane in his house. Honest to God. He's the only friend I have besides you!"

Jasper stepped forward.

Gordon looked him over, suspiciously, before taking one arm off Nichole's shoulder and stepping forward to hesitantly hold out his hand in a handshake gesture.

Jasper let out a million dollar smile as he stepped forward and shook Gordon's hand.

"Nice to meet-" Gordon stared before Jasper yanked him forward, pulling Gordon's hand to his chest and clapping his other arm affectionately on his back.

"Hola Mr. Sex-… I mean Comish-G! Me llamo Jasper. Soy el vigilante de Nikkiester!"

Gordon's hand had automatically reached for his gun in reflex (thinking that Jasper was going to attack him with that sudden movement).

"Oh ho ho ho!" Jasper said, leaning back, smiling at Gordon's hand that had latched onto his gun. "Damn! This hombre came prepared! You really have the cop vibe don't you? That's cool, I dig it! You really must care and look out for the Nikkiester now don't you? I can see why-"

"Jasper!" Nichole hissed, _completely _mortified.

"Okay I got you!" he said to Nichole. He let go of Gordon and stepped away.

Gordon blinked, almost choking at Jasper's comment. "Um...Nice to meet you." He looked away awkwardly and then looked back at Nichole and reached out and squeezed her shoulders. "Okay," he smiled trying to lighten the mood. "I don't want to spend this time sobbing and not using our time wisely."

"As do I. Gordon...You don't know how much this means to me to finally see you again. I missed you so much!" She smiled, blinking a few times, like windshield wipers to dry her watery eyes. "How did you know to come? Who told you to meet here?" She asked sent a glare to the wall beside them, at the thought of the Joker calling Gordon up.

"I received a phone call early in the morning from that bastard telling me to meet here if I wanted to see you, and that I better show up alone, or we'd both be killed." He saw the panic in her eyes and quickly added, "I kept my word...though Nichole you don't know how hard it was for me to." He lowered his tone of voice. "There has to be some way we can get you away from them right now and you come climb into my car and we can drive away."

Nichole stared off into the distance for a moment. "No...I can't do that. For many reasons. If I go either I would end up back in Arkham or jail. Society _hates_ me Gordon, for reasons they don't understand. Where would we go? The only safe place would be your house and that's too much of a burden for you to harbor a wanted criminal. It jeopardizes you. I could never do that to you."

"I really don't care! Just...We have to find away. This may be the only time." He sounded desperate and heartbroken.

"I wish I could. I really wish I could, but I can't do that to you. And besides...there is no way I can get away. There are two men with guns in the van. They will shoot us if we run."

"This just...isn't like the Joker though. To present such an opportunity!" Gordon hung his head low.

"It is suspicious. I don't even know what's going on. I don't know why he is letting me see you. I think something is up. I would not be surprised if he is on the roof of one of these buildings with a sniper or something-" As her thought came out, she panicked even more and started to glance at the roof tops she could see. The two side stepped a little so they were closer to the wall.

Gordon rubbed his hands on his face for a moment. "Wait...did he bug you?" He suddenly asked.

"No. He couldn't have. He was not around when I woke up, and there were no cuts that I had received with me unaware of them during the night. And even if he did plant one in, I had taken a shower an hour ago and it would have been destroyed if it was embedded into my skin. And I am wearing Jasper's clothing and I trust Jasper to not do a thing like that." She glanced at Jasper and smiled.

Jasper's heart was officially broken into two pieces as he smiled back feeling even guiltier. "Don't worry. I didn't do nothing." He eyed Gordon up and down once more, to take his mind off the guilt yet again with a lovely sight.

"Alright good. Then maybe...this is just the Joker being..." He sighed. "I don't even want to say it because it might hurt you if I do."

"Just say it. This may be your only time." She said flatly.

"I think he is probably playing mind games on you… Allowing you to see who you want only for a small amount of time and then tearing you away from them. Messing with your emotions. Draining you. That may be it."

"Perhaps. I don't want to think about that right now. Please. But how are you? What's going on with you?" She asked, veering the subject away from the Joker.

"I am fine I guess...the courts and Gotham have been getting worse and worse as the days go on. It's not just your case and the Joker publicizing what happened to you in Arkham that is causing the downfall. The Joker is doing so much more when he's out and about around town. He has had many run ins with Batman, but....He's always got something to distract Batman with so his attention has to be taken off the Joker and onto someone in trouble. Our city is going to the dogs. I fear...something is going to happen, something he is going to do will make the whole city go more insane than it already is. All the good cops...well...There's not many left. Either they get killed, or corrupted. It's not pretty....." He sighed. "and I need to ask...what happened to you in Arkham. If you don't want to say then you don't, but those pictures...." He looked as if he was going to throw up for a moment. His hand indistinctively clenched his heart.

"It's fine...I'll tell. I haven't told anyone this...Not even the Joker. I don't care if you hear, Jasper, either." She glanced at Jasper, who was leaning against the opposite alley wall listening and watching them. "They um...The doctors ordered me to stay in a cell that was like a solitary cell that they would put people who misbehave in for an hour or so, so they calm down… But they made it my cell. There was no bathroom, no bed, and they didn't feed me. Well…once they did, but it was barely enough to stop the stomach pains. And...the doctors…..the showers and that's where...." She trailed off for a moment as images of Arkham flooded her mind. "That's where…. The women would attack me and hold me and my cloths under cold water. Did you know that if you are in a cold damp cell, no matter how hard you try you can not warm up or completely dry?" She licked her dry lips, biting down on them to hold her emotions at bay. "I think they were letting out their anger and hate for the Joker, through me."

"My god Nichole." Was all Gordon could say. He was bewildered and in shock. He hugged her tightly once more. She felt his tears land on her cheek. "Again...I am so sorry. I can't tell you enough....I just feel so upset by this whole thing."

"Well....Yeah. And then...There is the other issue. Candy. Gordon I am sorry I didn't get to tell you about her before the trial. I was embarrassed and I didn't know how you would react to that. I mean...It makes me sound so crazy and I knew you wouldn't believe me. I don't care if you even believe me now I mean the world doesn't..." She sniffled. "And she's always there....always. She talks to me in my head...She is getting stronger too! She was in my cell with me!" Nichole's voice cracked as she leaned her forehead in Gordon's chest and clenched his jacket even more tightly. "She was sitting next to me in my cell… walking around… talking to me, convincing me that being with the Joker is better than being in Arkham. She sniffled and closed her eyes as she leaned up and took Gordon's face in her hands. "She is getting strong! I always feel her inside me! She now even comes out and takes control of me… even with the Joker around…. Oh God!" Nichole was sobbing at this point remembering last night and now the trial even, where Candy had taken control on the stand and lied to the court.

Nichole's knees buckled and Gordon quickly took a hold of her waist, pulling her up before she crashed to the ground. He ran his fingers through her wig's hair as he leaned her head back into his chest. Nichole felt lightheaded as she was consumed by the memory of the Joker, yanking her and Candy's hair, almost choking her with his lust… sweating and moaning on the bed as Candy-

"Nichole" Gordon pulled back from their tight embrace. "I believe you. Trust me, I believe you. I am actually surprised that that's the only major disease you received from this ordeal so far. Many others would have been insane to the point their bodies would shut down and they would die. You are very strong Nichole, I want you to know and realize that. You are very strong. I am proud of you...."

"I'm not though!" She screamed. "Candy just takes control now whenever she pleases. You don't know the things she does when I am trapped in my own fucking body as she takes control!"

Gordon lowered his voice yet again, to prevent Jasper from hearing. "I can get you help. I can find a way to help you, but you can't just go back with him! You can't! I won't let you go back with him! He can't help you with Candy, and he is lying to you if he is telling you that you are safe with him from the people in Gotham that think you're guilty! There are people that believe you Nichole! I can help you. Just...Let me think of a way to get us out of here!" He backed up and held both of her hands in his, begging her earnestly.

"Gordon...I can't. There is no way I can get away from him. No possible way. I just...need to learn to accept it." She said, utterly defeated as she tried to think of ways to escape, but all ending in her or Gordon's death.

He threw her hands down. "GOD DAMMIT NICHOLE!" Nichole jumped at his sudden outburst. He turned his back to her and smacked his forehead. "I can't just sit here and watch you suffer!" he shouted as he kicked an empty beer bottle on the ground. He faced her; his face was red and he was shaking. "How much longer do you think you can endure him?" he began to pace, trying to calm himself down. "I mean what-… What does he do to you? Besides-.." again, he could not even say it.

"I think...I think I can survive for a very long time, unless I do something to upset him and I cross the line. With Jasper now here I have a source of decent food, and sort of...coping in a way. I can talk to him so I am not alone and completely losing it with fucking Candy talking to me in my head all day. And..I know how to talk around things with the Joker. I know how to avoid things, and I know pretty much what sets him off, so I can work my way around getting attacked by him. But things he says to me...they freak me out more than all the pain he could give me in the world. Look I don't want to talk about it...please. I want this meeting to be a happy one." She gave a hopeful smile.

He patted her shoulder, looking down. "You don't deserve this at all." He sighed and glanced at the sky searching for something to say to change the subject. "Oh...your brother has returned from Iraq!" He smiled.

Nichole's eyes light up. "He did?! Oh gosh, have you seen him? How does he look?!"

"Well he had to come to the station to...um...sorry he had to come down to get questioned and take some of your belongings with him." Gordon rubbed his eyes under his glasses "He… knows everything the public knows… He is heartbroken and misses you so much....and he looks fine. No missing limbs if that's what you mean. He is in perfect condition and is done with his tour and is trying to make do with his life… you see, he is really upset by all of this and is trying to take some time on his own… He's been at the police station a lot… to see if there are any updates on you. He is also staying with a few friends while he is coping…I have been making sure he has been avoiding the press."

She nodded to him, wiping the tears that had formed over the joy of hearing her brother finally returning and the pain of knowing she would not be able to see him. "Thank you. You do too much for me. Can you please...um...tell him that I love him and thank you for always being there for me? Could you tell him that?" Nichole's voice broke.

Tears fell down Gordon's face as he reached out a hand and rested it on the side of her face, wiping away her tears with his thumb. "Of course."

Before Nichole could say anything, Jasper said "Sorry my friends, but the clock be rolling faster and faster to the time that the boss said he wanted us to leave. So wrap it up." he cut in, giving an apologetic smile to the two of them, and then licking his lips and winking at Gordon when they met eyes.

Gordon raised an eyebrow and returned to looking at Nichole. "Um...anyway. Nichole I just want you to know that I am at work trying to get more evidence to prove you're innocent. Once I do....you most likely will see it on the news and then you can reconsider-.....Your intentions right now." He eyed Jasper suspiciously.

"Oh hush. I can't hear a word you guys say." He placed his fingers in his ears and hummed loudly for a couple of moments, before laughing. "No but seriously, I won't say anything to the J about what you two are saying."

"Thank you." Nichole nodded at Jasper. "And Gordon...if that would happen...I would reconsider it...Most definitely. Hell I would do it most likely. But...I doubt that day would come where you could get enough evidence to prove I am not guilty or insane. I mean Candy ruined it in court. And this is even illegal for you to be talking with me right now without arresting me! There is no chance!"

"Well I am going to try." Gordon reassured her.

"Sorry we gotta go guys." Jasper tapped Nichole's shoulder.

Nichole hugged Gordon tightly and began to cry again, knowing very well that this might well be the last time she ever saw him face to face. She wanted to cling to his jacket forever and never let go, but Jasper tapped on her shoulder again after a minute of them in a silent embrace.

"Goodbye Gordon...thank you for everything." She tightened her hold, and then let go of him and her joy.

He held onto her arm as she walked away. "I'll get you away from his grasp. I promise...."

Then Gordon looked up at Jasper, not quite sure how to say goodbye to him. Jasper grinned and held out his hand.

"I ain't gonna bite you! Anyone who is a friend of Nichole is a friend of mine! Us Nikkiester groupies… we got to stick together."

Gordon looked at Nichole and then let out a small smile and shook his hand.

As her and Jasper headed back to the van, she looked back at Gordon and smiled through her broken face. Though the air was chilled, she felt much colder than it. The warmth of his hand left her and she left the teary eyed Gordon with a backwards glance as she climbed into the van. Her eyes never left him as Jasper backed the car out of the alley way. Once he was out of sight, she sat there in a sort of trance.

She did not even realize tears were flowing out of her eyes, until she felt Jasper reach over and wipe one off of her face.

"Cheer up. Are last you got to see him!" Jasper tried to lighten the mood. "And dayyyyyyum! He is better looking in real life!"

"Yeah...I guess you're right." She said, (not referring to the second statement) staring out the window now, readjusting the scarf Gordon has placed back into her hand in the middle of their conversation. She placed it over her mouth and sighed.

A little ways into the trip, just as they stopped at a red light, Nichole watched a crime unfold before her very eyes, on the sidewalk near her.

There, a simple woman in her late twenties was walking chatting on her cell phone. They were not in the nicest part of town, but many people were walking around her as well, even a few cops. A man came up to her and snatched her purse and pushed the woman to the ground at the same time. She went tumbling down, badly scrapping her knees and breaking her phone in the process. She screamed out for someone to stop the thief as he began to run as fast as he could away from her.

Two cops that were walking by glanced over at the thief......and kept walking. They did not even stop to help the woman.

Nichole stared at the event unfold before her very eyes and turned to Jasper. "Did you see that?" She asked as they were given the green light and kept on driving. "No one helped her..."

"It's Gotham...every man for himself." Jasper joked, clearly not seeing what she was talking about it.

Though it was simply a joke, Nichole couldn't help replay the mugger attacking that woman and the cops doing nothing about it, in her mind. She shook it off as they reached the warehouse once more.

"So now we have the rest of the day to ourselves! And tomorrow too girl! We can have like our own Christmas!" He laughed, stepping out of the van with Nichole following behind him into the warehouse and into the living room. The other two men, got out of the van and stood around grabbing more cigarettes before heading out of the warehouse completely.

"They're leaving?" She peered behind her as she saw they left.

"Well yanno they may wanna go to their families or friends or where ever. I say the hell with it. I am seeing my friends on New Year's Eve. So why go now?"

She shrugged and they went into the kitchen for some lunch. She removed the wig and his jacket upon entering, and Jasper took both from her hands. "Hey I'll make us lunch you can go get changed into your normal clothing." He smiled.

Nichole walked upstairs to Jasper's room and Jasper quickly took this moment to remove the bug in the jacket's hood. He placed the bug into one of the drawers and shut it tightly, hanging his head low as he reached into his pocket and removed his cell phone. He dialed a number and brought it to his ear.

After a few rings someone answered. "This better be important. You're interrupting something!" yelled the voice.

"Boss it's me." Jasper told the Joker.

"You do what I told you to do?" He chimed.

"Yes." Jasper said in a flat tone.

"Good. Anything particularly useful that they said out loud that could help me more than just the simple fact that the Commissioner was talking to someone Gotham wants behind bars without the intent to arrest?" The Joker kept his sing song voice.

"Uh...That's for you to judge. But most likely." Jasper said, feeling awkward.

"Oh goody! Now I can trust you're wise enough to let this be our little secret… Am I right?"

"Of course."

Nichole walked into the kitchen in her own clothing that she had left in Jasper's room. She still had not been upstairs in the Joker's room once since yesterday.

"Hey wha-" Nichole began to say, but stopped herself figuring the Joker was on the other end of the line.

The Joker heard her, though. "Oh speak of the devil. Put her on the phone." He demanded.

Jasper outstretched his phone in hand, towards Nichole. She shook her head out of instinct. "No!" She mouthed.

He tilted his head giving her a begging look. "He wants it!" He mouthed. "I can't help it!"

She groaned and kicked the floor silently, before reaching out her hand and grabbing the phone from it.

"Hello?" She sighed.

"Oh don't sound so happy to hear from me Nichole. Your enthusiasm is killing me. It really is." He said sarcastically.

"Yeah..." Was all she could think to say.

"Well just in case I am not back tomorrow...have a Merry Christmas." He said in the most mocking and creepiest tone she had ever heard those words spoken. He obviously was not being serious. "And be sure to watch out for any sounds coming from the roof top tonight. You never know what it could be." He started to laugh and then out of pure hate for him, Nichole hung up the phone.

"Oops..." She said, not really caring as she handed the phone back to Jasper. "It appears I just hung up on him. My bad." She said sarcastically.

"He is going to be pissed!" Jasper clapped his hands together in awe she had just did that.

"He probably will forget it by tomorrow." She batted away at his joy.

Jasper then made them lunch and they sat down to eat. Every so often as Nichole ate she had the urge to throw up and start crying. She felt sick to her stomach as she kept thinking about Gordon's face as he noticed the marks on her neck, and the face he made when she had to leave. When she was finally able to get the rest of her food into her stomach, she had a slight stomach ache.

Being around Gordon again brought back all her memories of her life before the Joker, and the pain that followed once she was with the Joker. She kept thinking of Tom at this point as her and Jasper went into the living room and watched some classic Christmas movies. Later in the evening Jasper made cookies for the two of them. They weren't gingerbread, since he did not have the supplies, but they were fine in her eyes. It had been so long since she had something to satisfy her sweet tooth.

She took a bite out of the cookie, while sitting on the floor in front of the battered coffee table. "Mmmm, Jasper this is so good! I am so lucky you're a good cook." She grinned, licking her lips to remove the stray crumbs that left her mouth.

"Glad you like it. Now I am kinda getting tired. I think I'm off to bed." Jasper stretched his hands out.

"Oh...Jasper....Do you think...Do you think I could sleep in your room? Like on the floor or something? I really don't want to go upstairs and sleep in the Joker's room if I don't have to and I don't feel comfortable down here on the couch alone knowing there are still goons of his coming and going." She asked sweetly.

"Sure sure sure! You totally can. I don't care at all! Unless you snore really loudly, which I doubt you do cause the Joker would have killed you just because of the noise you would have made." He laughed. "But sure, no problem. You can sleep in my room when he's away all the time."

The two went upstairs to his room, and Jasper laid out an extra comforter on the ground to act as her mattress and then took two spare blankets and draped them over her as she laid comfortably down on the comforter that had been placed next to Jasper's bed. She snuggled in the warmth and comfort of something other than the Joker's bed and laid her head on the pillow Jasper had allowed her to use.

Jasper flicked on the TV and found a station to watch. "I like to fall asleep with the television on. Sorry if it bugs you. I put it on low volume." He assured her.

"Oh no problem at all. Believe me this is so much better than upstairs." She rolled on her side, and fell asleep after a few moments.

* * *

There was a strange feeling in my stomach knowing I was about to spend a holiday that normally people around the world go crazy and joyful for, in the house of a lunatic.

It dawned on me as my eyes opened and adjusted to the light shining through the satin curtains of Jasper's, that it was Christmas. In all honesty, I probably would wake up with the same tranquil feeling inside of me, had I woken up any ole Christmas morning. These holidays I normally would spend going over Tom's house, where many of our friends would come over and exchange presents and drink beer to our heart's content. I knew today was just another day in my eyes. I wondered briefly though if the Joker was out and about right now creating a....themed disaster in Gotham, in honor of this holiday which he most likely despised.

I turned over onto my other side to see Jasper's bed empty and thought nothing of it. Knowing him he already busted open the holiday drinks. At least there was something I could look forward too. Presuming the Joker was not going to return today, I could get as drunk as I felt necessary to forget the prison that surrounded me and kept me shielded from the prying eyes of Gotham's citizens that shunned me away from it. At least, I hoped the Joker was not coming back today. I still had no idea when he was going to return. Yesterday was a very emotional and yet calming day for me.....

..and Joker-less. Which was very important.

Going downstairs I saw Jasper had left a plate of food on the table and a note near it. I thought that was a very sweet gesture of him, and smiled at the bacon and eggs sitting there beckoning me to eat them.

_"Sorry. The boss called me to come down to his site and help with something. I should be back later in the evening. Please don't run away, or I'm fucking dead girl and most likely you are too. Left you some food. Merry Christmas. -Jasper."_

I frowned at the note and crumpled it up to satisfy my anger that I was going to be alone for most of the day. I hated being alone now a days. It caused me think and let my mind wander to places I did not want it to go. With Jasper, or hell even the Joker, around me, my mind was too distracted with thinking of something to say or comprehending what they were saying, to dwell on memories and distant times.

And Jasper was so concerned still I was going to run away. If Gotham did not treat me like an outcast, I most certainly would be running away. Hell! I would be out of this damn door in a nanosecond!

I would ran away if only I knew my brother was.

Even still, I had no idea where he was at the moment. He used to live with me at my old original house, but obviously he is not hanging around that empty burnt up piece of land. If I knew where he was, I honestly think, even though I love Jasper as a friend....I would have run away. I know if I did that I would always bare the guilt, because Jasper would be killed because of it, but I honestly don't know how much longer I can stay here without losing my mind to the point where you can no longer function correctly and slip into a coma.

I sat and ate my food at a slow pace just to take up time. Once I was finished I went to the television in the living room and flicked it on, searching for something to distract me since thinking about past Christmases made me think of Tom; which in turn would make me think of all things we used to do together. I could not even think of his face in my mind without feeling a thumping pain in my heart. The TV did no good though. It was filled with parades and Christmas movies displaying families together enjoying themselves.

I started to space out and think about the fact my brother was in Gotham right now without me there to greet him home. Without me there to talk to him. I assumed he was with his friends right now and they were comforting him over the loss of me. Hell I didn't even know if at the moment he thought I was dead or not, but I trusted Gordon to keep his word and tell Nate that I was alive and missed him dearly.

I felt my throat tense and I knew a crying fest was coming. I could not hold it back. How much I loathed crying. It was all I seemed to do nowadays.

Pain.

Suffering.

Fear.

The three emotions I felt every day, all the time. Though with Jasper around, I felt happy. And when I was talking to Gordon I felt happy. But the happiness fades and I slip back into the depression as he sits next to me on the couch with open arms and his sadistic smile. Even when I was happy around them, I could still feel the pain and fear in me, jabbing at my sides trying to come out.

I was so desperate at this moment to get my mind off of crying, that I decided to try and talk to Candy.

"Candy?" I asked, deciding to speak to her out loud, since no one was in the warehouse with me at the moment.

_Yes Nichole?_ Candy asked in my mind. She sounded as if she was faking delightfulness at the moment. I still could not get used to the sound of her voice in my head. It was almost like an echo; slightly muffled and distant. Though when she grew angry her voice hurt my ears.

I tensed realizing she was awaiting an answer from me. I didn't even know what to say at this point, for I had not planned anything to ask or say. I just needed company at the moment.

I decided to tell her how I truthfully felt at the moment, knowing I was just feeding her something to torment me with. "Look...I really just need someone to talk to me right now. Someone to get my mind away from all the thoughts running through it. Can you please just talk to me?"

I felt so foolish, that I was almost positive I was flushing with embarrassment.

_Well...I don't think we have anything to talk about my dear. _She said sounding disappointed. I hated when I couldn't tell if she was being serious or sarcastic. It was always like that with her. Just like when she said she was sorry for the other night with the Joker.

I still do _not_ believe her.

And with that I knew anymore talking with her would be leading myself into my trap. So I stopped talking to her and she said nothing in return or asked why I had suddenly stopped talking to me. It dawned on me she could hear me think all this, so I felt even more embarrassed.

I then laid out full on the couch and buried my head into its pillow by the armrest. Needless to say, I began to cry. For everything....yet again. All the deaths caused by me, all the pain I have felt and the humiliation. My heart was yearning to be back with Gordon. I played out in my mind, me actually escaping with Gordon yesterday and being lead back to my brother.

_Oh my brother!_

I wondered if his hair grew back after having it shaved off when I last saw him. I wondered if he had any wounds from his fighting in Iraq.

The tears began to pool out of my eyes. Oh my brother! After being away from home for so long… he comes back to find that his father is still done and his sister is in the hands of a murdering psychopath!

Will he, my brother, be humiliated and mortified to have relations to me after hearing the public's calumniating view? Will he be disgusted by the fact that it is _clearly_ known that I am not pure and can never get clean again?

_Oh Nate… Nate, Nate, Nate… It breaks my heart and comforts me at the same time to say your name while I can still recall it. If my thoughts can somehow escape these walls with the current of the air, and that current happens to land in your direction, hear this:_

_I love you, my dear brother. I love you with every fiber of my fucked up being and will love you until my days will inevitably end in a short while. Don't blame yourself for my current situation. I want you to be free and happy. Hopefully as the days go by my face will soon slip and slip out of your mind. And Nate, please try to understand what I am about to tell you: _

_If the opportunity ever arises that you should see me, I want you to keep your head together and walk the other way, before your memories of who I was and used to be become tainted and die right then before your eyes. I don't think I can bear to let you see how truly destroyed I have become. I want you to keep that image your sweet and trouble-making little sister you used to make cakes out of mud with, in your head. Un-removed and never tainted by the blood that has been shredded on me. Think of me as the little girl with the blond braids that you taught to swim by throwing her in the lake and pushed on the swings. Never think of me or see me as the way I am now. I love you. Despite all that has happened, you are the only one that has been there for me whenever I needed you._

As I sent this thought through the walls, I felt like I was choking on my sobs.

_Oh my brother… Where am I?_

_Am I?_

_I am covered in skin that only force gets to come in._

My brother would know how to comfort my fear and loss. I pictured myself being accepted back into society and Candy vanishing forever. I pictured the Joker being tossed into Arkham and decaying in his crammed cell, old and alone.

I kept picturing the first time he raped me. Just the thought of it made me bring a hand to my head, remembering how he punched me continuously. How painful and humiliating it was. I couldn't figure out which time he raped me was the worst. The first? Second? Third? The previous time?

The most painful had to be the second time.

The second time!

I was lying on the couch in this position. I knew that if I closed my eyes I would see him on top of me, squeezing my chest while undoing his tie.

I let out a loud growl and put my hands over my burning face.

The chase! The positions!

They were driving me mad! He was not going to give up that night; not until he got what he wanted. I cried as I curled into a ball on the couch thinking of how he took me when I tried to crawl away on the floor… it made me feel so sick and dirty.

**He** made feel dirty. His greasy hair that clung to his sweaty and ruined dripping face… He was the most repulsive thing ever. I hated how he loved to cover me with his sweat and saliva. I felt a horrid shiver in my body as I remembered the disgusting feeling of his filthy fingers prodding my private parts and ruined mouth sucking on my breast. His teeth and saliva sticking to my skin!

I can't get it out of my head!

Oh… don't get me into the part where he penetrated me, proving that he is a human and a male…

...the most humiliating had to be the last time. Every time I would think about what I did that night and how I actually enjoyed it, I felt sick to my stomach. I had enjoyed it more than any other time I had sex with any of my previous ex-boyfriends! It had been the best sex of my life, and it was with the man I hated. I cursed out loud, screaming out my turmoil. He had done it on purpose, I had to remind myself! He had won that night by getting me to enjoy it! I would often forget that, or discard that and slip into more sadness. I had to keep reminding myself that.

It wasn't my fault....But part of me did not believe it.

My mind went back to focus on Tom, and that is when I cried my hardest. I would endure a thousand rapes from the Joker, if it meant Tom could come back to life. If none of this had happened, Tom and I....we could have been something… despite the fact that this experience had caused Tom to confess his love for me that he bottled up, I know in my heart if this experience had not happened at one point or another he would have told me! I pictured his face in my mind. His long shaggy black hair and gray eyes. His perfect smile with white glistening teeth, straight and neat. His body which I had fallen asleep on so many times on his couch or under the stars.

He was perfect in my eyes and my eyes alone.

His face in my mind was perfect and always seemed to glow with his smile and his slightly crooked bottom teeth that I always thought gave him character. I thought of the tiny scar on his left cheek that he told me he got from trying to ride a dog like a horse when he was six.

It's funny how scars can be perfect… in _some_ cases.

I remembered the tiny scruff that played on his jaw. Gosh, I loved it so much! I would tell him countless times how much it tickled me whenever we would snuggle.

Tom, wherever you are I hope you are happy and laughing now…

And then I thought of how he looked now. Decaying in the ground with worms and maggots eating his decompose flesh, just as the Joker told me a few nights ago. His perfect body was rotting away and always would be until he was a pile of useless bones.

I was never going to see him again...not even a picture. Just a mental image that did him no justice.

Sadness is like a cold, with patience it goes away. But depression is a cancer. And even after my long and strenuous battles with the cancer, just when it seems like I had won, it would come back and pummel me to the ground stronger than ever, each time I would look into _his_ dark eyes.

Never in my life have I actually wanted the Joker to come back to the warehouse right now and strike the fear back into me and snap me out of my tears and depression. The pain I felt when I cried was worse than any pain the Joker could inflict upon me now. Soon, I found myself literally drowning in tears.

I continued to cry for the rest of the day. I just laid on the couch, spread out on it like a limp puppet, the puppeteer discarded for its chipped away paint and cut strings.

I could hear a car pull into the garage, and I glanced at the clock through my water filled eyes. It was around six in the evening and I assumed it was Jasper.

I guessed right.

Jasper entered a few moments later and saw me on the couch. I tried quickly to wipe away at my face and bat away my tears to prevent him from asking any questions, but they would not cease to fall and betrayed the fake smile I had placed on my face. Though I would bet any money he would be able to tell, just by the red blotchy color the skin was around my eyes.

He came and sat on the tiny space of couch I was not taking up and took me by the shoulders, forcing me to sit up. Once I was seated he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me to him. I cried into his chest, feeling even more sad at how pitiful I was. I was a disgrace and I felt so worthless at this moment.

I now more than ever believed that I belonged on the side of the road in a gutter.

"Shh shh shh. It's okay." Jasper tried to comfort me. It was in vain. "What happened? What's wrong?"

I realized he must have thought I was crying for a purpose other than thinking of the past. I honesty did not feel like going into details with Jasper, since it would just hurt me more.

"I'm fine now." I lied, sniffling. I had to compose myself! I forced my tears away, and stopped my face from breaking. "I don't wanna go into it."

"Are you sure?" He asked, tilting his head towards me trying to see my face, which I was trying to hide by causing my hair to create a matted curtain.

"Yes yes...I'm sure."

Jasper let go of me and stood up. I took note how dirty he was at this moment. Dirt lightly covered his shirt and pants, and his shoes were caked in mud.

"What happened to you?" I asked lightly, trying to brighten the mood.

He looked down at himself, realizing what I was talking about. "Oh psh...I just had to do some dirty work for boss. A lot of work I had to do today." He sighed. He must have seen the speculation in my face, because he quickly added, "But don't worry I didn't hurt no body. It was just fetching stuff and helping set up stuff kind of work."

I trusted him. He never lied to me yet, and I just could never bring myself to think that he would ever lie to me.

"What a way to spend Christmas." He joked, then stretched his hands out. "I think I am just going to take a shower and go to bed." He yawned.

"I think that's what I am going to do too." I smiled at him. I was itching to take a shower right now. Whenever I cried I felt so disgusting and sticky. A shower would also give me warmth, which I needed right now. I was sure if I wanted to I could just sit with Jasper and cuddle him, but I suddenly suppressed all my urges to be around anyone.

I suddenly desired to be alone, and it confused me for a moment. But that was honesty how I felt.

Isolation was what I wanted. I wanted to cry myself to sleep like I had so many other times.

We walked to the bathroom that was down the hallway of the second floor and that's where the dilemma started.

"I could just wait for you to finish yanno." Jasper said, as we both stood idly in the door frame of the bathroom.

"Yes, but I think I want to spend a while in the shower. I'd use up all the hot water." I told him honestly.

"Damn girl! You're just like me! I use up all the hot water too!" He nudged my side.

I laughed, to humor him. I still just felt like I wanted to be alone, so I wanted this problem to be solved right away. I knew if I stuck around much longer I would end up being a little moody and I didn't want to take out my anger and sadness on Jasper. He didn't do anything! _Control yourself Nichole!_ I thought to myself.

I decided to make a decision that came at a cost for me. "Look, I can just use the Joker's bathroom for a shower. If we shower at the same time, we both get hot water and we both run out at the same time." I smiled at him, trying to make him believe it was something I _wanted_ to do instead of something I just said to get away from him, before I started to bawl my eyes out again.

I didn't want his pity. I wanted no one's pity but my own.

He looked at me dumbfounded. "Are you sure?" He asked.

I knew this wasn't going to be as easy as I intended.

"Yes I am sure. I'll be fine. Can I just take a spare razor from down here? I think I want to shave my legs after my shower. I haven't in a while and it's something that would take my full concentration, so I wouldn't be...well....yanno."

He reached into a closet and pulled out a throw away razor. He started to hand it to me, but pulled back at the last second eyeing me. "You aren't going to slit your wrist with this now are you hun? I don't wanna come find you in a pool of blood in the morning. I don't wanna see that." He tried to sound as if he was joking around and honestly did not think I would stoop to the level of suicide, but I could see it in his eyes. He was really saying this thinking I was going to end my life.

Part of me wanted to, but I could not say that to him.

"Of course I won't!" I smiled, putting on my best cheerful voice.

He handed me the razor with a smile. "Okay, and by the time you're done I may just be asleep already, so just climb into the bed I made for you. But if you want to talk feel free to wake me up. I am here for you okay?" He patted my shoulder.

I smiled and I meant it. It touched me how nice he was to me. "Thank you." I said sincerely.

I walked out of the bathroom and heard him shut the door behind me and turn the water on. I walked up a flights of stairs a little more quickly than I intended too and reached the hallway on the third floor, with that single door at the end of it. The pit of my stomach always drops at the sight of his door.

I reminded myself he was not in there and most likely not going to be in there tonight.

I walked forward keeping my head up. If I acted confident and calm, maybe it would rub off and make me alike those qualities.

_It didn't work, but it was worth the effort. _Candy teased me, as I turned the door's knob and entered.

His room was dark, so I flicked on the lamp. The room was still a mess. The bed was not made and the blankets were strewn about. I had to hold back the vomit in my throat as I swear I could make out his imprint from when he was laying down and Candy was sucking away at him. My eyes went wide.

I felt so cold as my eyes watered. I suddenly could taste him inside of my mouth yet again. It was something I could not wash out, even with water. Goosebumps formed on my skin, and I rubbed at my upper arms, wishing they would go away.

I walked into the bathroom, and was literally in shock to see it was cleaned up. I figured as I entered the shower curtains would be still on the floor along with the broken glass. But the Joker had cleaned the bathroom up. The shower had no curtain on it, and the mirror was gone. I noticed now all the supplies normally kept on the sink were gone as well. His razors were gone.

To some people, that might seem like a caring act of generosity… but in my eyes… it was the worst thing that he could do to me while he was not around.

There were only two reasons I could think of for this. Either he brought them all with him to wherever he was, or he removed them all since he thought I was about to kill myself with them. I gripped the razor from downstairs in my hand tightly feeling dizzy at the thought of the Joker trying to prevent my death.

I wished I could know the thoughts running through his head and why he did things he would do. But then again, I didn't want to know how his mind worked.

I sighed and got into the shower (taking care to wrap my lightly bandaged hand in a cloth and leave it out of the water) which because of the fact there was no curtain, caused the floor to become damp and the steam that would normally surround itself around me like a butterfly's cocoon, was spreading like wild fire into the whole bathroom.

Even the steam hated me.

Even steam did not want to be around me.

Property of the Joker is frowned upon by even inanimate objects.

Only Jasper, Gordon, and my brother were the only people I knew that cared about me. The Joker...I still could not think of a word to use to define how he felt about me. An item. An object. A desire.

I don't care right now.

I ended my shower quicker than the hot water running out. I felt a little smug knowing I would be giving Jasper longer warm water.

I flicked the drain switch, so water would collect into the bathtub. I only did it so it was enough to be able to dip the razor in to rinse it off and I used cold water. It made the hairs on my leg stand up so they would shave off closer to the skin.

I went over to the closet, thankful to find a can of shaving cream still in it. This made me realize though that it was my second thought about why the Joker had taken the razors out that must have been true.

_Smooth…_ I thought.

If he had brought all his razors with him to use wherever he was staying currently, he would have brought the shaving cream. He had taken them out so I would not use them to harm myself. It was funny that he thought taking those out of the room could prevent me from doing anything to myself. Also since there were other razors in the house, like from the bathroom downstairs I had taken the one in my hand currently out of.

He obviously did not think that entire plan through. But he tried.

Instead of letting my anger take over me, I "awh'd" out loud, being sarcastic; acting as if I thought it was a sweet gesture for him to do. I really just wanted to hear a sound other than the eerie silence his room had. I started to question why his room was also so quiet when I was in it alone. Not even birds, or people outside made noises when passing by the warehouse. Some invisible force prevented happiness from coming within the building's hearing range. This room and its aura it gave was everlasting.

Then I began to shave my legs. Spreading the cream on and stroking the blade up my leg as carefully as I could. I felt relaxed and yet numb at this moment. It was unexplainable.

For some reason though, I was suddenly playing the image of the woman on the side of the road getting her purse snatched from her and the cops turning their heads the other way ignoring it. I felt anger and disgust that human society could be so cruel and so selfish! The dirty side of life certainly was dirty and everywhere.

I did not even realize I was shaking before it was too late. A sudden pain and feeling of liquid dripping out from my ankle. I looked down to see I had cut myself with the razor. A small cut, but it was persistent and was bleeding without falter. I was on my last stroke for that part, so luckily no shaving cream was on me. I took a towel and wiped my leg dry and placed the razor on the sink's counter while I pressed two fingers to my cut.

I sat there for a good minute, still thinking about those selfish and ignorant cop. I then brought my hand away from the cut to see if it stopped. It certainly was slowing down, but not stopping. I brought my bloody fingers closer to my face to examine the blood.

The blood was suddenly fascinating to me. This red oozing liquid was the source of my very existence and I had seen more of it in my life now, than I should have in five life times.

_The blood is the life!_

It was in that very moment looking at my blood a realization hit me.

I had realized this many times before this moment, but right now was the first time I could accept and get over this realization.

At that moment I snapped. Part of my mind was refusing to accept that I accepted this realization.

Heh… accept and accepted… present and past.

I realized just how ridiculous my situation was. I realized that no matter how much I cried or how much it hurt me, **nothing** was ever going to change. Everything that happened to me was set in stone and over with.

All my students who died, were dead and would remain dead. The scar on my face would never fade away.

Funny… even though I tried to picture their faces and names, I realized I could not do it.

All the sudden it was as if they were lifeless and nameless dolls, that were not completed and had blank faces.

Not to mention Tom....was never coming back.

I could cry as hard and as often as I wanted, but it was not going to change anything.

Yes....I had told myself this many times, but right now I could accept it.

I also could finally accept another thing. Even if I escaped from the Joker or killed him, I was a wanted criminal and people thought I was insane. People thought I should be locked up and remain decrepit in the barren cell at Arkham where society first condemned me.

And right now, looking at how my mind was working...looking at Candy...I could not agree more with them.

I _was _and_ am _insane.

And I realized even if society accepted me back into it, and dropped all charges against me and was able to see I was really the victim, I still would never be the same. I would never forget the trauma the Joker put me through and the feelings of his hands… not hands… claws!

I was finally able to say to myself

These Four Little Words,

"My life is over."

I said it out loud once in a whisper.

The rickety bridge I had set up and built myself to keep myself sane and grounded to the very earth was on fire. It crumpled and broke beneath me and I fell into the pit of insanity that I tried in a vain attempt to keep myself from. Once the pit of insanity claims a victim, there is no escaping from it.

My life was over the moment I stepped into that Bruce Wayne party. The moment the Joker grabbed me. I was claimed by this pit on that day. The black mark placed upon me.

There is nothing that I can do to make myself that girl I depended on; that girl that used to be me. I was, am,

take out the "was"

leave in the "AM" just the "a" and the "m."

and will always be

Tainted.

Dirty

And Marked.

No matter how many times I would rub and wash my skin raw, the Joker's placement that scattered my body would still be there.

I suddenly laughed so hard, I smacked my thigh in pure hysterics. The Joker has done practically EVERYTHING to destroy me. He kidnapped me, killed almost everyone that I loved, and yet, when I, Nichole, am suppose to be the perfect view as the "victim" and receive help and pity from others, HE MADE ME an outcast in society!

I laughed louder.

Isn't it funny? The way how things work?

He tried to kill me, he stabbed me, beat me, mutilated me, fucked me, embarrassed me…

When can a list stop?

Then I had tears of laughter in eyes by this point. Who the FUCK would have thought that this hideous, loathsome, psychopathic murderer who wears makeup that is vaguely reminiscent of a clown, could get it up?

I laughed harder.

I will say this: Again. And again.

There is nothing I can do to make myself that girl I depended on; that Nichole that used to be me.

That Nichole died in that moment.

All this time with the Joker and those moments of freedom. All the moments in between the first time I was with him, up till now was my evolution. It was me evolving into the person I became in this instance.

The insane person I was destined to become.

I had it.

My epiphany based on insanity…

"My life is over...." I said it with more passion and then I could help the sound coming out of my mouth next.

My chaotic laughter.

How quickly everything seemed to go from horrible to funny! I couldn't explain my laughter, for it came with such feeling and fierceness, that once it started I could not stop.

_Nichole?_ Candy spoke to me, _You really are destined to become insane! I mean remember how the Joker slammed your head into a brick wall five times? That must have really been the part your mind physically became bent!_

Candy was my beautiful brain damage.

She must have been born that moment he slammed my head into that wall five times! My brain had rattled inside my skull and the insanity that was already in me became an even greater force!

"My life is over!" I laughed harder and harder until it felt like my stomach would burst from my tugging sensations of laughter.

My life is over and I am STILL living it!

I could hear another sound, which I recognized to be Candy, laughing in my mind as well. Her insane laugh now matched my own laugh, but it wasn't her in control of my laughter.

It was me.

I felt the floor beneath my feet grow soft and my head light. I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. Tears!

The realization hit me even harder now as I sit on the rim of the bathtub laughing without any sign of ceasing. Laughing at my whole life. Laughing at my stupid attempts to become normal and stay sane.

I know I should hold on. I know I should stop laughing. I know I must sit back and have another crying feast I did earlier on the couch.

I know.

KNOW. That is stated.

I know I should hold on to what's left of my sanity.

But how can I, when that piece is so small, I can not see it anymore?

All this time I had been crying and begging whenever I was around the Joker. I had forced this upon myself. By acting like that, I had been the cause of my own demise.

I fought with the devil and had been chained to the walls of hell.

I hated Gotham with a passion. The people in it all were so horrible and cruel! Not just Gotham, even at that, but everywhere. It was a dog eat dog world. Every man for himself. I hated it! I saw the Joker through his acts and video tapes and experiments was showing off in true colors, the ways of _real_ human nature. And people were too appalled by the lengths he went to, to show the crimes, that they focused more on that than the message he was sending. They did not even want to look at the message he was sending because they knew he was right. I was one of those people. I did not want to see the message he was sending, but now I opened my eyes.

My life I had shielded my eyes from the terrors of our world, pretending they didn't exist. When I was with the Joker I was exposed first hand to it all, but never could accept it. There had to be some decent people in this world.

But at this moment, I couldn't help but push Gordon into the back of my mind. I even pushed Tom into the back of my mind! His face which was on my mind all the time was suddenly faded and replaced with my hate for Gotham.

Wait.

Stop. Pause. Think.

Who is and who was, that is if I should use "was." I think I will stick with "was".

Who even _was_ Tom?

I paused. Then I laughed harder.

I looked at my fingers again, and I saw my cut had stopped bleeding.

My aching fingers yearned for more.

I slide off the edge of the bathtub to the floor and reached up for the razor on the sink. I suddenly grew angry that there was only dried blood on my fingers and leg. Dried blood was boring and I had the urge to see it wet and running.

My laughter did not stop as I clicked the blade off of the handle and made a slit on my lower leg. I choked a second on my intake of air as I made the slit, but started to laugh again as a line of blood appeared and flowed freely from my leg.

My cut had a twin right next it from the adjoining blade of the shaving razor… Just the way Candy and I are.

She came to after an act of violence.

Symbolism is beautiful.

I felt joy!

So much joy, more so than the time I smoked with Jasper! More so than the times I was with Tom! In this moment I even forgot how Tom died and what he looked like. I went further and further down into the pit of insanity in this moment.

Candy was the little yellow bird in my ear telling me to do stuff and everything she said seemed to be a guilty sin that I wanted to do.

She told me to make pictures with my blood on the bathroom walls, so I did.

But first, she told me I needed to create more blood since this artwork I would make would be large.

I took the razor and then quickly decided to do a magic trick… I sat my feet on the tiled floor and with no hesitation, I made seven… no… ten!... quick movements with the razor on my legs. I felt the pure ecstasy of each sting the cuts made as the razor bit. I made a contest with its illusion.

A huge grin pilled across my face as I watched all of the vague lines of my slash marks suddenly perform a magic trick in front of my eyes. I never felt so euphoric as I watch the blood push itself through the slit of skin in the formation of a bead. This process continued with almost three to six beads per cut. As the bead got larger as it collected more blood, it would eventually connect with the bead next to it.

The wonders of gravity did its job and caused the dark red bead to

drip drip drip drip flow flow flow flow flow flow

down.

I let out a shaking breath… I have never seen something so beautiful. Every wound inflicted on a person connects as they keep getting more and more…. Soon before it made that person something different and work in a different pattern.

Just like me! And just like my blood.

I let my fingers collect patches of blood on them and then let my trembling fingers glide across the wall. I drew things that came to my mind, but they ended up just looking like circles and X's everywhere. I kept repeating this, until I was satisfied.

An artist's work completed on the walls. I smiled at my master piece. I only wished the Joker was here to see my beautiful work.

Candy then told me I should make more cuts and let my blood stain my face. So I made another cut on my upper leg, feeling so numb and good on the outside that I did not feel the pain of the small razor opening my skin. I slashed more and more of my legs. I even cut deeper in the ones I already made.

I let the blood flow onto my palms and then brought the blood to my face. I closed my eyes and let my hands run down my face, leaving behind the red sin of my own pleasure. I took one blood filled finger and let it trace the J scar on my face. The rough skin demanded and told me it wanted blood in its crevices and it was an offer I could not ignore. Candy then told me I should trace my lips with the blood. I brought that same finger and let it run on my lips.

I had to be the most beautiful person in the world right now. My bloody makeup! It was fantastic!

I felt tears in my eyes. I had never looked or felt so beautiful.

I only wished I had not broken the mirror in my fit of rage the other day so I could admire myself, but Candy kept saying I looked pretty with blood on my face, so I believed her.

So I believed her.

She said that I looked so good, I should taste myself to see if I taste as good as I looked. I had to agree it was something that made me wonder. I brought my arm in front of my and bit down on the skin and little bit further down than my wrist.

I brought my teeth away and started laughing once again, when I saw I had left an actual bite mark on both sides of my arm. How could have I thought that blood was horrible before? It was miraculous!

I literally was bouncing up and down were I sat. My legs were still bleeding and creating a puddle of blood where I sat. I still had on no towel and I decided to roll my naked body in this blood. The texture of this liquid made me start to giggle again. I made sure to have a good layer of this blood everywhere on me. I felt it crust in my hair.

I was living it large. I had been so stupid to try to run away from my problems and try to be myself and hold onto my life. I should have just accepted life was over a while ago and lived out the rest of my life as best as I could. And now I was.

Candy then said I should go jump out the window. She said that I was so happy and filled with joy that I could fly! So I believed her, and walked out of the bathroom, not bothering to grab a towel or cloths. I wanted to feel nothing but the blood on my skin.

I pulled away the curtains and opened the window. My legs were itching to do this. Every inch of me was starting to hurt in anticipation. The floor was burning beneath me, wanting me to step off it and onto the air outside.

I started to put one leg out the window, when I felt something tugging me back inside. I suddenly was pulled away from the window and crashed on to the ground.

I looked behind me but no one was there.

I stopped laughing at this point trying to figure out what had stopped me from flying, when I was able to hear now very clearly since I had stopped laughing Candy screaming in my head.

_NICHOLE! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! STOP! YOU'RE GOING TO KILL YOURSELF!!! _She was screaming.

I figured it out now. All that time, I was thinking Candy was telling me what to do. I thought it was her telling my to cut open my skin, to spread my blood on my face, to draw with my blood on the walls, and to jump out the window.

It wasn't her telling me to do it.

It was myself.

I had told myself to do all that.

Candy had just stopped me from 'flying', an idea I had concocted myself into doing.

_WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?! _She screamed at me.

I growled out loud. "I think you ruined my fun!"

_NICHOLE! Just calm down! You just fucking lost it! You need to stop the bleeding or you will kill us both!_

I felt like acting like a child at this point. I didn't see what was wrong with what I thought was beautiful at this point. "No. It's _my_ body and I can do what I want with it!"

"Like hell you can." Candy said, now speaking out loud through my mouth.

Candy carried me, kicking and screaming, without hesitation and guided us back into the bathroom. By this point I didn't give two shits. Candy was always ruining my fun, just as she was now. She took the towel that was covered in blood and quickly pressed it into shredded skin on our legs. She used one hand on each cut to press into, and I could hear her think to herself how thankful she was that the towel was long enough to reach both cuts on our legs.

It was so funny that now I could without feeling any sort of sadness, say "our legs" and "our body". Previously when I had told her it was my body and I can do what I want with it, I knew I had been lying. She had as much control over me now as I did. But it didn't worry me anymore. Let her do what she wants.

Just like she did a few days ago.

"Nichole....You truly have lost it." Candy muttered, still pressing our leg tightly. "Look at the mess you made!" She eyed my artwork.

I felt insulted, but remained quiet. I knew she could hear my thoughts, so why bother directing them towards her formally. She was just prying into my mind like an anteater searching for bugs in a hollow log.

"You are lucky the Joker was not here to see this! He would have killed us! Sure you were out of it when you got back from Arkham, but _this_?! This is something he can't cure with body heat and food." She sighed.

"You're also lucky you have me to help you out here. If I wasn't around you would have bled to death or be like a smashed cake on the side walk right now."

"I don't care!" I was able to scream through my mouth.

Candy quickly took control back of my mouth and shushed me. "Just shut up okay!? After this we are going to bed! Maybe you will sleep this insanity off!"

I could feel her doubt in my body. She didn't think I would sleep my insanity off. I did not know what would happen in the morning. Maybe I wouldn't want to make more artwork and start flying, but I did not think the feeling of acceptance that my life was over and done with would go away.

It was such a powerful feeling!

I felt as if I was as powerful as the Joker!

Candy removed the towel after ten minutes of periodically checking and scowling over the fact the bleeding would not stop. I will be honest, I was starting to feel light headed at one point. She was right, I was losing too much blood.

Candy then reached over and pushed our body into the shower once again. She turned on the shower head and washed all the blood off of us. It was cold water, but we didn't care at all. I kept taking control of Candy every so often because I wanted to look down at the red water we were standing in.

After we were clean, she pulled out another towel and wiped us dry. She then used that towel and ran it under the sink's faucet and covered it in soap. She then started to clean the artwork off the bathroom walls. I wanted to kill her! How dare she do such a thing!

Once it was looking normal again she then washed off my footprints made out of blood on the bathroom floor and in the room, to the bloody spot by the window, with much difficulty since I was trying to get control and hold us back, trotted us over to the Joker's bed. She made us lay down and she threw the cover over us. She laid on our side and shut her eyes.

"Now we are going to bed Nichole and I don't want to hear another word from you!" She growled.

_Yes mother dear._ I told her off sarcastically in our mind. _Hey you know what Candy? Fuck you!_

"Whatever." And she forced us to fall asleep. I don't remember if I dreamed that night, but I do know it was the first time I slept in the Joker's bed without hate for the man who owned the bed or disgust for sleeping on it.

The Joker at this moment was the _last _thing on my mind.

* * *

Nichole woke up in the Joker's bed feeling cold. She sat up and saw she had kicked the comforter off in the middle of the night and she was still naked.

She jumped at first when she saw the dozens and dozens of scabs on her legs. But then as quickly as the shock came it faded into nothing.

_It doesn't matter. _She told herself flatly. _My legs would be a piece of artwork in the Joker's mind. I doubt he'd care....or...he may, since clearly he wanted to keep me away from razors. But I don't regret it... I will never regret yesterday. Except...two things..._

She sighed as she went into the bathroom and retrieved her clothing that had not been damaged with blood since they were resting on the closed lid of the toilet. Last night was replaying in her head of course, and there were only a few things she felt bad for, but the rest was fine in her eyes.

She only felt horrible for how she treated Candy, when she was preventing her death and she felt bad she had included Gordon and Tom in her hate for humanity. But she was slightly shocked by the feelings that remained with her from last night.

She still hated the world now. Everyone was cruel. The way everyone acted when it came down to it, was like savage beasts.

She was also in shock that when she even thought of Tom, the feeling of loss and mourning was faded almost entirely now. Last night had changed her....She was now accepted his death. She now accepted the situation she was in and she still felt like she should not live every day of her life in fear and pain.

But she knew....last night was her breaking point. After that night she was not the same Nichole that had been on the couch hours earlier hugging Jasper and crying over her life. As she thought about her life at this moment, she did not have the urge to cry.

_I have accepted it...and there is no turning back._ She thought to herself.

A smile came onto her face, without her realizing it.

But she really was happy the Joker was not around last night to see her lose it. She froze for a moment and repeated her last thought in her head. She gasped out loud as she was able to see and picture the Joker in her mind and not feel the urge to cry at his name and image in her head.

She sunk against one of the bathroom's walls with a smile. Most of her fears were drained out of her. She did not know what she would feel or not feel in this case, when the Joker was around her once more.

"I am free." She told herself with a smile.

_Maybe I will feel nothing._ She thought. _Maybe now when I am around him, I'll just not care , I'm more destructive to myself then he is to me._

She liked this thought. It would relieve most her stress.

Before she was going to head downstairs to meet with Jasper though, she had to do one thing. "Candy?"

_What do you want Nichole? _Candy asked irritated.

"I want...to thank you. Last night you saved my life. I-...I'm sorry I acted that way...I truly and honesly am sorry that I was mean to you when you were trying to help me. I just...kinda lost it." Nichole admitted, feeling very ashamed.

_Lost it is an understatement._ Candy said in the same angry tone of voice. But after a few moments she started to laugh. _But seriously....last night you went so crazy. What sparked it Nichole? I must know. Your thoughts last night were such a mess that I couldn't even see any of them, until I heard you chanting out loud you wanting to fly out the window!_

"I just....was fed up with life and how every day I cried thinking that would make it better. It's not making it better. And I learned to accept everything...and I think my mind was torn into two...well not including you of course...but it was torn into two because half of me was accepting it and the other half was in shock I was accepting it that...my mind rejected my acceptance even though it was set in stone. Does that make any sense?" Nichole stood up and started to walk downstairs.

_A little..._ Candy admitted after some thought. _But let's keep that little episode between us okay? I mean I think the Joker is going to know something is up when he comes back and you are not acting like yourself as well as seeing all the cuts you made, but I swear to god you tell him about you spreading blood on the walls and yourself I will fucking kill you! Understand? _As quickly as Candy's sweet tone came it left as she spoke in Nichole's mind, angered by her behavior. Candy knew that if Nichole was going to start to act different around the Joker now that she made this acceptance and since she certainly was a changed person....something bad might happen.

Well....bad for Candy's case.

"I don't think he'd mind that much if he found out, but I agree. I won't tell him. If he asks, I'll lie. It's none of his business besides."

_It's none of his business that the urges to cut away at my skin are still inside me. Passive now...but I know the urge will grow stronger.._ She thought to herself as she reached the bottom of the stairs.

Jasper was in the kitchen when Nichole came downstairs. He turned around and glared at her when he heard her enter. "YOU! You had me so worried!" He exclaimed.

"Huh?" Nichole asked as she sat down.

"I thought you fucking killed yourself last night! I woke up in the morning and saw you weren't sleeping in my room, but at first I thought nothing of it thinking you were downstairs, but I couldn't find you! So I went up to the Joker's room, which by the way I was freaking pissing my pants as I did so cause I didn't know if he was back and you were with him or what cause if I had walked in on him I'd be dead. But I walked up to his room and opened the door to see you laying all nice and neat on his bed!" Jasper came closer to her with a bowl of cereal and placed it in front of her.

She muttered a thanks before explaining with a lie. "Oh...I just took a shower and then I got so tired I just kinda went to sleep on his bed. I think I seriously must have been so tired cause I would never lay on his bed willingly." She joked. She hoped her lie sounded good enough.

"Or you just miss him." Jasper winked.

She batted the air in front of him and smiled. "Ah ya caught me." She gave into his humor, feeling less worried about what happened last night since Jasper always seemed to suck up any negative feelings. The only thing she was really worried about and kept thinking about was the fact she didn't realize it was herself telling her to do all those things to herself. It truly made her see and open up her eyes to how mentally unstable she was.

"So today you are coming to the mall with me. You get to wear your wig and my clothing again girl." He laughed. "The Joker won't even notice, cause I doubt he's even coming back today. Yesterday I saw the things he was setting up for and doing and seriously I think he's going to be away till tomorrow."

"Okay." Nichole smiled, liking the idea to go out to somewhere.

The scenery gets old after a while.

By noon they were pulling up to the mall. Nichole was dressed in Jasper's clothing, the black haired wig, and the black scarf to cover her face and scar. Jasper had been able to safety pin the scarf to her wig, so it remained there and did not fall off. It would cause mass hysteria if someone were to notice and recognize her just because her scarf did not stay up.

Nichole surprised herself when she felt claustrophobic as they began to walk around inside the mall. She was not used to being around so many people anymore. She was used to mainly one person with her; Jasper or the Joker. Even at the poker table that one night she felt a little out of place with all the Joker's goons there and was intimated by the number of people, but here at the mall she felt absolutely like a fish out of water.

Again she realized at this moment how much she had changed. She had the sudden urge to go back and wait in the van. She hated being around so many people. She preferred now to be around only one or two people.

But by far the worst was the fact she was around people she hated....everyone.

She clung to Jasper's arm like a lost puppy.

_No...but I don't hate Jasper._ She had to remind herself.

But she could not hide the glare that would appear on her face as she met eyes with random strangers. Luckly the bangs on her wig hid her eyebrows.

She wished though that everyone around her was dead. She could not ignore that feeling inside of her.

_The world can sit here and live their normal lives without a single care for the horrors others go through. Everyone is only concerned for themselves. It really is a dog eat dog world._ She outwardly growled in rage in her throat, but due to the loudness of the mall Jasper did not hear.

They went into a few stores grabbing party type supplies and then broke for some lunch by two. They had fast food, but Nichole had to eat in a bathroom stall, in order to avoid attracting attention. If she ate in public people would have seen her scar, since she would have to lower the scarf to eat.

And she really didn't want to sit around eating, looking at the faces of others that she wished would burn.

The fast food was a heavenly thing to eat. It had been too long since she had eaten it and she savored its fatty goodness. After she was done, Jasper was waiting for her still eating his French fries in the hallway of the restrooms.

Just then a woman who was heading into the bathroom was not paying attention to where she was going and hit Nichole on the side of the shoulder. The woman almost fell and glared at Nichole. "Excuse you?" She said irritated.

Nichole glared back at her, wishing the wig did not have bangs that hid most of her eyebrows. "Excuse me? Watch where _you're _fuckinggoing! What are you blind?" Nichole said angrily.

The woman huffed and straightened out her jacket before entering the bathroom.

"DAAAAAAAAAMN!" Jasper laughed. "Nichole you just owned that bitch."

Nichole smiled triumphantly. "Well she deserved it. She's a fucking bitch."

He patted her back. "¡Eso es mi chica! La reina del paseo y sus idiotas estúpidos."

The next hour they roamed the second floor of the mall. Jasper suddenly pulled Nichole into a store, so quickly she could barely see what she was being lead into before it was too late.

"Victoria Secret?!" She started to laugh.

Jasper let go off Nichole and walked over to an display dummy showing off a set of intimant bra and underwear with garters.

"NICHOLE! You have to get this! This is so cute! Obviously it wouldn't fit me! But it would look perfect on you! Dude I think the Joker would like it too." He grinned, teasing her.

"Whaaaaaaat!" Nichole started to laugh. "Yeah right! No thank you!"

"No I am serious!" He nudged her side.

"And so am I...I don't want it." She couldn't help but laugh at his absurdity.

"Yeah yeah yeah....Okay look here, take this money." He handed her a stack of bills, "And go buy some new clothes okay girl? Then meet me back outside here in an hour."

"Jasper I can't accept this!" She protested.

"Just take it! You need some clothing and need it now. All you have are summer stuff. It's not a big deal honest." Jasper shooed her protesting hands away.

Nichole hugged Jasper tightly. "Thank you."

For the next hour Nichole had managed to buy enough outfits and underwear to last her a week without washing any of them. She bought her own jacket too so she could escape the cold. She met back up with Jasper who had many bags in his hands.

"Do you think the Joker would get mad at this stuff?" She asked, smirking; clearly not being serious. She didn't care if he grew angry for it.

"Nawh is just cloths man!" He patted her back. "So let me see what you got." He took the bag from her and shifted through the contents. "Nice nice nice!"

They exited the mall and placed their bags in the backseats. "Okay I just gotta go to the super market and buy somethings for the party in a couple days. You can just sit and relax in the car if you want."

"Alright." Nichole said, grateful she could remain sitting. Her feet were very tired from walking around the mall for hours. It had been such a long time since she had walked around that much. But most of all she was thankful to not have to enter a store with many people in it.

Once at the supermarket, Jasper left the keys in the ignition and turned it so Nichole could listen to the radio. She ended up falling asleep during the course of the half hour Jasper was in the store, and did not wake up until she felt him tugging at her side.

"Nichole we are back at the warehouse now! Ya gotta wake up!"

Nichole rubbed her eyes and groaned. "Five more minutes."

"Oh no no no. I am not going to act like the Joker for you and carry you inside. I am not that strong girl and I may end up dropping you."

She playfully hit his upper arm. "Was that a crack at my weight?" She asked jokingly.

He just smiled and put the keys to the van in his pocket. "Kay let's carry our shit in!"

The two carried the bags into the warehouse. Nichole took her bag of clothing and brought it up to the Joker's room, placing it against the wall by his desk. She raced back downstairs and helped Jasper put away his food and various supplies.

Jasper was exhausted by this point, since he did not have time for a nap unlike Nichole. They went to Jasper's room and sat on his bed, flicking through the TV for something of interest to watch.

Nichole was feeling very giddy on the inside still and sort of fidgeted as she sat. She was still feeling the effects of yesterday even now. It shocked her that still she did not really think much of yesterday or feel concerned for her well being. She even tried to fake concern, but she simply could not. She did not care.

All the sudden Jasper flicked by a channel that was playing the chorus of "Poker Face." "WAIT! GO BACK TO THAT SONG!" Nichole screamed with joy.

Jasper raised an eyebrow, but laughed at her enthusiasm. She was almost acting as if she was drunk, when clearly she was not. He had noticed something was different about her. Her posture; her eyes. The normal fear in them were faded away and he could not see it well at all. She seemed calm and content to his eyes now. He didn't question why, he just assumed it was because the Joker was not around for a few days.

He figured she was just happy with it and living out the time she had away from him.

Little did he know how wrong he really was.

He flicked back to the station she wanted and started to laugh as she bounced herself off of the bed and began to dance to the upbeat song.

"Jasper, I love this song! I haven't heard it in ages! Come on dance with me!" She giggled, letting her arms sway and her hips move to the music's beat.

"Awh I'm too tired, to get up! But I'll do a little hand dance." He moved his hands, snapping his fingers while he remained on the bed.

Nichole shut her eyes and spun around smiling, clearly enjoying herself at this moment. She had so much fun around Jasper.

"_I wanna roll with him a hard pair we will be…"_

Candy was even laughing at Nichole's dancing in her mind. Her laughter came out through Nichole's mouth and blended with Nichole's joyful laughter. To Jasper though, he would not be able to tell the difference.

As she spun around and shook her hips in a circle motion, she felt free. Already yesterday she established with herself that the walls that kept her in the warehouse were no longer as threatening to her, but they still remained and were accepted by her. Now she felt as if she was outside these walls.

She opened her eyes as she danced and spun around, wanting to see the lights in Jasper's room form a colorful blur around her.

She could see a blur of purple and at first thought nothing of it, until she spun around a few more times I realized what it was.

Her giggling stopped as well as her spinning. Her head was spinning and she saw two of the purple figure for a few moments, until she was able to shake the feeling away.

There the Joker was staring at her, his hand on the door knob, standing in the threshold. He was smirking, which told her he had been watching for a little longer than she expected.

The fear that normally coursed through her was much more dull than ever before and she didn't have the urge to hide and run away. She did not care at this moment he was back.

_Maybe it will hit me later...Maybe it won't..._ She thought to herself. But ever since the night before, the fear she normally felt around the Joker was not as strong as it used to be.

"I am going to steal this from you Jasper." the Joker said, motioning towards Nichole. "You have had her for three days and it's my turn again." He grinned.

"I'm not an object you know." She protested to him as he walked closer to her. She noticed his fingers were clenching and unclenching if he was holding back his desire to grab Nichole and touch her. He kept his eyes locked on her and stood about a few inches away from her. He towered over her with his mouth parted slightly to breath from it.

She stared back, hoping the dulled fear in her eyes would frustrate him. He wanted to see fear and he was getting none, but a tiny spark that would not even satisfy an interrogator for the police.

"If you will excuse us Jasper......We have some catching up to do." The Joker grinned down at her.

* * *

**Kait:** Okay. First before i tell you guys the news. The bra and underwear piece Nichole and Jasper saw in the store holds importance for later so i am showing you the link to it so you can see what it looks like: h t t p : / / w w w . t r a s h y . c o m / L o l l i p o p - U n d e r w i r e - H a l t e r - B r a . 8 7 9 8 - p r o d u c t . h t m (Delete the spaces yooo!)

**Sydney:** Hahaha we spent time actually looking for a good one!

**Kait:** OKAY! NOW! THREE PIECES OF BIG NEWS!

1.) Chapters 1-19 have been reedited fully and new situations and dialoge have been added to them. The ones with the biggest changes are 1, 5, 9, and **12 **(especailly 12. That was the first sex scene and it was made more....Um....painful...yeah).

But the BIGGEST change would be to chapter 19. **SYDNEY EDITED** **chapter 19** and made it waaay better. That was the second sex scene and she made it more....disturbing haha. But i liked so you all NEED to read it! Soon i will get chapters 1-30 edited. I am just trying to fix mistakes as well as add words. I try to add over 2,000 each chapter.

2.) Sydney is leaving for France for a month in a couple of days. One of the reasons its been such a long time to update is I typed up this chapter and the next chapter so i gave them both to Sydney to edit. both chapters are edited and done. I am purposely holding off on posting the next chapter so that you all do not have a solid straight month of no updates. I will post the next chapter half way into Sydney's trip. So when she returns she can edit the next chapter and you all will be fine. The costumer is the concern haha ;D

3.) OH MY GOD. GUYS! August 7th-9th....The impossible is happening. Me and Sydney are meeting in real life!!! Me and her have gotten so close and are always texting and calling each other and our friendship is something i wouldn't trade for the world! She is just an amazing person and totally understands me and we can talk about anything and everything. I am truly honored to have her as now one of my best friends. But we have never met in real life. I live in Mass and she lives in Philly. But....We have gotten an arrangment (of course we had to lie to our parents on _how_ we met), but her and I are going to be in New York together for three days! We are seeing the Phantom of The Opera together too! John Cudia will be our phantom and we couldn't be happier! I am so excited to meet her and actually see the face to the voice i am always on the phone with!

**P.S:** that naughty sexy image 123ekaterina drew of the sex scene from chapter 40 something is back up on a diff website and a link in my fanfic profile will lead you there. Check it out yoo. She is so talented!


	46. The Joker's Favor

**Kait:** So Sydney is in France right now! But don't forget...She edited this chapter and made it juicey and what not! So really in a sense she is here hahaha! I miss her so much though guys. It's just not the same anymore =(. But alot has happened in these two weeks. I started my job, which unfortunatly makes me get tired and rarely type, but hopefully that changes. And I think I suddenly remember why I hate clowns and the clown type laughs. Member in the movie Return to Oz, those guys called the wheelers? They would ride around on all fours with the roller wheels on them and start laughing like creeps? Yeah well i watched that movie the other day and was like "AHHHHH FUCCK I HATE CLOWNS AND THEIR LAUGHTER!!" Dude, seriously. That movie_.....(shudders) _But still such an amazing one.

**Joker:** Well, at least you can stand Mark Hamill's laughter as the Joker!

**Kait:** Cause he's the fucking king man! I love me my Mark Hamill! Best Joker laughter _(smiles)_

**And guys I hope you clicked and entered that link i provided for the set of sexy undergarments! And guys...Nichole is literally insane at this point. Well more insane than before. But just keep last chapter in your head.**

* * *

The Joker continued to stare at her hungrily. One of his hands was reaching forward towards her but went back down to his side as he tilted his head at her stoic and unfazed look.

"Yeah...No problem boss." Jasper said in a bit of a trance, looking at the gaze the Joker was giving Nichole. He was sitting up in his bed watching the two, resisting all urges inside of him to say something kinky.

As Nichole stared directly into his eyes, the feelings from yesterdays melted down washed through every bone in her body.

_Yesterday....My god..._ Nichole thought to herself as he was stepping slowly closer to her and she could see herself reflected in his dark eyes._ It really is sticking with me. Here he stands in front of me...and the fear I normally feel is....It's barely there. Yesterday is sticking me! I do feel as I did yesterday almost. There is no point in fighting him. There is none. My life is over and I really....I really have come to terms with it. Having him stand here in front of me, has confirmed this to me. I feel no urges to cry. I feel none!_

She gasped internally, realizing how much yesterday's breakdown truly affected her. She needed her internal thoughts to be heard by Candy. She needed to talk herself through this. She wanted to be able to make sense to herself; as impossible as it sounded.

_Candy...My goodness. Can it be true? My life ends with him. I am the new me, there is no going back. And I have accepted this. I accepted this last night. I woke up, and I didn't think that I would still be thinking like this, but I am! I don't why this didn't hit me this morning and all afternoon, that yesterday really impacted me in such a manner. It's because he is in front of me at this very moment isn't it? I am staring the monster in the face and I don't care anymore. I don't care because I've been through so much and I'm over the deaths of those who died. I'm over them, because nothing I do will bring them back and bring my life back to the way it was. I'm over with fighting him. I feel like...I feel like I just wanna let whatever happens happen, because there is no stopping it. Candy.... I still hate him, but... I don't feel fear... I don't care that he is around... I can talk to him with ease now. I won't be that lonely depressed soul any more... I have him to talk to. No matter how twisted he makes the conversation, I won't care. If he wants me, I can just let him do whatever he wants to my body, since I cannot stop him. Also I have you to talk. I have Jasper. _

_Nichole- _Candy tried to speak, but Nichole kept internally talking.

_I've been playing this game all wrong! I'd been fighting to survive and stay normal, but I'm not anymore. I don't care about anything. I hate Gotham! People are so cruel and blind sighted by their corruptness. I am corrupt too Candy! You're corrupt as well as Jasper! And in the views and laws of this world it makes Gordon corrupt for not arresting me! The Joker is showing everyone how horrible they are and- Candy I'm not making any sense anymore!_

_Nichole? _Candy picked up her volume to get her attention.

_Yes Candy? _Nichole responded.

_....You're fucking insane! _Candy yelled.

_Thanks...Thanks a lot. I'll be here all week. _Nichole said sarcastically while rolling her eyes; not noticing she actually rolled her eyes externally until the Joker let out a small chuckle.

"Well let's get upstairs, before Jasper sees something he would not want to....." The Joker stated inching himself closer to her at this point.

It was clear on his face, he wanted some action tonight. He held a smug grin on his face as if he suddenly had a bright idea on his mind.

Before Nichole could even begin to walk towards the door, the Joker leaned down and threw her over his shoulder. She let out a gasp not expecting this and a small grunt as her gut hit his shoulder; a small blow as his shoulder was still very tense and hard through his jacket. She was draped over him, so her legs were dangling on his chest, while her chest and face smashing on his back. Already he was walking towards the door. Nichole leaned her upper torso up, so her weight went to her legs more, and she could see Jasper in her line of sight.

She gave him a shrug as he went into a fit of silent laughter and pointed to his ceiling and then his ear, indicating he'd be listening. Nichole mocked his silent laughter and flipped him the bird, but quickly smiled at him to show she was kidding.

By this point they were already in the hallway, with the Joker keeping his hand securely on her hip to keep her steady on his shoulder. As he reached the bottom of the second floor's stairwell, he adjusted her by bending down on his knees a bit then popping back up, pushing her legs forward, so now more of her front dangled off his back. He walked up the stairs with ease, and opened his door with his foot (since it was already open slightly).

She hoped he won't remember he had shut his door when he left those three days ago. She didn't know if she wanted to tell him about yesterday or not at this point. If it was necessary she would or if he asked she would, but not voluntarily.

Though she figured he would find out one way or another, due to her acting differently.

He was carrying her like a package on his shoulder that he wanted to unwrap right away.

Once in his room he set her down in front of him, by letting go of her hip and pushing his shoulder forward so she would brush against his chest as she slide off him. She straightened up, but did not recoil away from him like he would expect it.

But he was too hungry to notice at the moment.

He needed Nichole to satisfy his hunger starving away at him for three days.

The Joker again acted as if he was about to pounce on top of her, but he did not. He suddenly turned around and walked slowly towards his desk, sliding his jacket off of him and letting it drape over the chair. As he took in the air of his room on his lower arms, due to his rolled up to his elbows under shirt, he shuddered; making it sound over dramatic and slightly fake.

"How did you manage to keep yourself warm when I was gone for these three day?" The Joker asked turning his head towards her as he started to take off his gloves and place them on the desk. "I know I was rather cold for those days in those hotels with nothing but my jacket to keep me warm. Next time I go out like that I should just pack you in my bag and pull you out when I'm going to bed." He laughed, clearly poking fun at her.

"Well...That's easy to answer. I didn't sleep in your room." She sent a smile towards him, hoping to piss him off and cover up the fact she was lying.

He eyed the bed and then walked over to it acting as if he was fully examining every detail about it. He brought one hand to his chin as he paced back and forth to the side of it.

"That would be a good explanation, if not for the fact I remember I did not even have the blanket on the bed when I left. This bed looks partially made. And I had kept the door shut when I left. You were in this room. Don't lie to me." He sent a glare to her, but then found it all amusing. "Did you miss me that much, that you had to take in my smell in the sheets as you slept to feel close to me?" He started laughing.

"Very funny." She started laughing. "You fucking caught me. I just missed you _sooooooo_ much. Not even telling me you were leaving or saying goodbye? Oh dear lord, I didn't think I could survive." She said in the most sarcastic tone ever, as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"Well you seemed to develop a sense of humor while I was gone." He sneered walking over to her and pulling on a lock of her hair. "What sparked it? Too much time around Jasper? Cause I can fix that."

"I don't know..." She looked over to the left, lying.

"Don't play stupid with me-" The Joker began, but stopped as he eyed something against the wall by his desk.

She looked up at his sudden stop of his sentence and looked over to where he was.

There on the wall was the brown bag of clothing her and Jasper had bought, looking plain and simple.

The Joker walked over to it, releasing his grip on her hair. "What is this?" He tapped it with his shoe as if it was a dead animal.

She spoke before she thought it out fully. "Jasper and I went to the mall. He gave me money and I bought clothing. I don't want to be in freezing outfits every day. That box of my clothing in your closet is for summer. And it's running low...either I get blood on it or you cut it up with your knife."

_Fuck...I don't know if he was supposed to know Jasper and I went to the mall!_ She cursed at herself. She wasn't fearing for herself, but more for Jasper's sake.

"Well it's a good thing I'm here, so you don't have to worry about being cold anymore." He muttered, sarcastically, as he picked up the bag and sat on the edge of his bed, beginning to pick through the contents.

He would now reach in and pulled something out; looking at it for a moment before throwing it to the ground as he spoke. "And I can't help if your clothing is begging to be cut up. They just demand-"

Once again he stopped mid-sentence, but to Nichole's horror she saw why right away.

He had pulled out a piece of clothing, and as he did so something else in the bag fell out.

Horror struck Nichole's face as she clapped a hand over her open mouth and her eyes sized up to dinner plates.

They both stared in silence at the black bra laced, half cupped, cleavage boosting bra with three small red bows on it. One was on each strap and one in the center between each cup. He reached back into the bag and threw to the floor next to that bra, the matching bottom piece.

She glanced up and the Joker, who was staring savagely at the lingerie.

_JASPER! WHAT THE FUCK!?! _Nichole screamed in her mind, as Candy began to laugh. _He bought them behind my back and then put it in my fucking bag!!?!_

"I'm going to kill Jasper....." She whispered behind her hand.

"And I'm going to increase his pay....." He continued to stare at it, and then sent a toothy grin at Nichole. "I think I finally know what the favor I want for letting you see Gordon is....."

He paused for a moment and then met her eyes with his.

"Put them on." He told her grinning.

"Um....What would this 'favor' be..." She asked, making quote marks in the air.

"In good time, you will see. Now go put it on in the bathroom. Do I make myself clear?" He hunched his back forward, with one hand on his knee; elbow arched outward away from his body.

She sighed, seeing no point in resisting. "Whatever."

She bent down and picked up the bra, undergarments, the lingerie laced skirt, and the two stockings holding the garter that would attach to the skirt. She glanced at the Joker as she made her way to the bathroom, noticing his grin become wider as she did as he asked her to without protesting yet.

He kept waiting for her to turn around and resist, but that moment never came; though it didn't disappoint him at the moment.

With that she went into his bathroom and shut the door behind her harshly; letting out her slight anger at Jasper through the hardwood.

_Oh...I am so going to kill you Jasper. I am going to fucking murder you. This is going to freaking embarrass the hell out of me!_

She removed her current clothing and placed them off to the side of the bathroom. She picked out the laced black bra and hooked it onto her, putting it in the tightest setting possible, so that it would not fall off her and would cause him extra trouble in the act of taking it off.

Since it was inevitable it would....

_The favor has to be sex...That just would make sense. That's what he wants. It won't be so bad if it was like last time. It wasn't even painful. It was just embarrassing for me. Maybe this time it won't. I really don't care if it's sex...Just this outfit. Why this outfit...I am going to look like a fucking whore on the side of a street corner. But...whatever this favor will be a piece of cake. Just an hour or so of what he wants and then its over. Not a big deal anymore._ Nichole thought to motivate herself to put the rest of it on.

Candy suddenly spoke up. _Hey...I like this outfit! It's not whorish!_

Nichole rolled her eyes. _You like it? Well then there is my point._

She grabbed the black skimpy thong and put it on in disgust. She eagerly put on the black short lingerie skirt that went over the thong, to conceal her rear and front well. It too had a small line of red running across the upper part to contrast against the black; as well as another small red bow on that red line to match the three mini bows on the bra.

She had to lift the skirt slightly as she put the black stocking on that ended on her upper leg, and attach the two garter strings on the stockings to the sides of her thong around her lower hips. Once they were on she let the skirt flow down again and wished she could see herself in a mirror at the moment.

Nichole had no idea what she looked like in this very sexual and very skimpy looking lingerie, and did not know if she wanted to know.

_Well... _Candy started to say _At least they are my colors. How did Jasper know I love black and red? _She giggled.

_Just lucky I guess. _Nichole told her flatly. _I just hope, that I don't grow so tired right now that I pass out on him while he's doing whatever. Fear used to keep me up and alert, but right now there is no fear to keep me awake. The only emotion going through me right now is, embarrassment that I am in the ridiculous outfit!_

_Darling you look fine I am sure! _Candy teased, still disappointed the mirror in the room was not fixed.

_Might as well not keep the man waiting._ Nichole sighed. _Candy. I don't care at this point. Take the hell over if you want, because I don't care._

_Oh no. I am fine with sitting back and relaxing tonight. I want to see...how this unfolds. _

Nichole could hear the smirk in Candy's voice.

_Why is that?_ Nichole asked.

_Because....I want to see how the Joker will react to...the 'new' you._ Candy merely said.

Nichole shrugged externally at Candy and started to head for the door to the bathroom. "Well...Here I go." She sighed muttering in barely a whisper.

"Go get 'em tiger." Candy muttered out of Nichole's mouth giggling as if she was about to see a show before her very eyes. A bad one at that.

Nichole could hear the thoughts running through her mind, belonging to Candy. Candy was thinking the Joker would hate the new Nichole, since fear was the tool he would use on her and now that tool is gone. Candy was thinking....The Joker would start to loathe Nichole so much that Candy would be his new interest. Candy started to picture the Joker and Nichole having sex, and Nichole simply laying there with a stoic look upon her face doing nothing. No screaming at all or protesting. She pictured the Joker growing frustrated by lack of movement and then screaming for Candy to come out since she would actually do something.

_Candy...Stop thinking so loudly!_ Nichole complained.

She opened the door quietly and saw the Joker was standing over by his desk, with his back to her. He had in the time she was getting ready, picked up all the clothing he had thrown on the ground, placing them in the brown bag off to the side and flicked on the lamp by his bed to provide a light source.

She was expecting him to be seated on the bed waiting for her, but the fact he was not came as a surprise to her.

He was emptying his pant pockets onto the desk, staring at each knife or various object he would pull out. Only when Nichole shut the door and it made a slight sound as it shut, did he turned his head in her direction absently.

And then he turned his whole body in her direction as he stared at her in her lingerie.

The piece of paper in his hands dropped to the floor as his whole body seemed to slump downward. His lips parted as he began to breathe through them, looking at her with hunger and desire. His eyes traveled from her slightly exposed cleavage down to her fully exposed stomach and finally to her mini lingerie skirt and garter.

He penetrated her with his stare. His eyes shooting daggers at every point her skin was exposed to grace his eyes with its smooth pale appearance against the black and red outfit she held on it.

His hands turned into fists as he licked his lips slowly. He closed his mouth as his tongue then trailed his teeth within his mouth and he was in the right light that allowed her to see the trail of saliva he left behind on his face. His jaw clenched into place and his whole body started to tense; his shoulders moving upwards closer to his ears.

He pushed his hair back with his hands.

One of his hands reached beside him and pulled the chair by the desk forward. His grip tightened on it as he walked forward with it, getting closer and closer to her, until he was about in the center of the room and then he placed the chair down forcefully.

The sound of the wood scraping against the floor stopped and Nichole was able to focus on the other sound she could hear, but hadn't noticed until now.

Jasper was playing music loudly downstairs; though it was muffled by the distance and hard wood flooring below her. But she could still hear the upbeat songs playing.

Her brain was starting to make the connection to what he wanted as she saw him sit in the chair.

"Get over here before I have to go and grab you…. and if that happens, you won't have anything left on you by the time we make it back to the chair." The Joker said in a low growl; clearly it was taking everything in him not to pounce on her right then and there.

She stayed in her spot, trying to figure out if what she was thinking was actually what he was thinking as well.

_He can't be serious._

After a moment of staring at each other the Joker smirked, thinking her pause was due to fear and not confusion.

"Oh come now surely that little dance you displayed downstairs isn't the best you can do right?" He snickered.

Then to the Joker's surprise, Nichole burst out into a fit of real laughter. She leaned her back on the door to keep herself steady and choked on her laughter. "Oh my god! You can't be serious! That's so funny!"

She could not simply believe he was asking her for a lap dance.

_He couldn't be!_

"That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard from you yet!" She said as she tried to fan herself to cease her laughter.

After another moment or so of amusement, she finally stopped her laughter to wipe the tears forming by her eyes. "Wow...you almost had me going there for a second!"

The Joker raised an eyebrow and showed no humor what so ever. He clenched his jaw and showed his teeth as his mouth formed into a sneer. He lowered his head, so she could not see his neck. He was looking at her from the tops of his dark makeup covered eyes and they were getting that dangerous look in them she had learned to identify so easily.

"Oh..." She said, as her eyes widened in shock. "You were being serious?"

He leaned back in his chair looking extremely agitated Nichole had not moved an inch away from that door towards him. "Let this be your thank you to me for letting you see Gordon. I never heard a formal thank you for my generosity Nichole and I don't think I would want one anyways. _Showing_ your thanks is something much better."

"But...a lap dance?" She cringed at the word.

_Why couldn't it have just been sex?! That's not as embarrassing as this!_ She gulped. _I'm going to look so stupid!_

"Funny. Funny how I see my men.....those pigs just wave a couple wads of cash in front of those girls at a club in order to get them to do more than the dance they do for them. Funny how in order to see more; feel more...it requires money. And at those places, none of those nymphs would even look at me. If I brought money into eye sight, their owner....or their herder so to speak, would hit them upside the head and force them over to me. Of course once I was done with them, the flock lost one of its' sheep, but it's just funny how money makes the herder forget completely about that sheep and more focused on his valuables." The Joker said staring at a patch of wall beside Nichole.

"What?" Nichole asked, trying to figure out the point he was trying to make.

"Do you not know how to, Nichole?" He veered his gaze back to her and grinned, teasing her.

She suddenly grew angry by his teasing smirk and spat out, "No I know how to. I had a college life you know."

"Well then this will be easy for you." He placed both his hands behind his head, still grinning.

_Fuck this...Fuck this! Anything but this! Seriously! Candy I am about to suggest sex instead of this! I will look like a fool! _Nichole complained to Candy.

"I can't." She sighed.

He sprung up out of his chair, scowling at her, causing her to jump and back away a few steps. Once he was just about to grab her and fling her towards the chair, Nichole found her voice and stopped him with her words.

"I mean I can't do it sober!" She screamed, holding her hands in front of her defensively so that over his anger, he would hear her.

He stopped in his tracks, taken aback at what she was saying. It sort of made her chuckle internally at the surprised look on his face that she was basically saying she would do this for him. She gave up on fighting yesterday, for she did not see the point anymore. He would win. And now she was displaying this for him and he was not expecting it at all.

She found it all hilarious for some reason.

The laughter begging to come out, she hid in a few coughs.

He gave her a confused look, standing arms length away from her, since his feet stopped moving forward the moment she spoke to him.

Nichole decided to speak first.

"If you want one so badly, you will want one done right. I can't do it sober. I...Just....Trust me. I _can't_ do one sober. It will be terrible and you would gut me like a fish at how ridiculous I would look. You want this favor," She stated, lowering her hands, "I can see that you want it badly." She decided to humor him. "Thank you, for letting me see Gordon. I really was not expecting you to let me go and when I read your note saying you would let me I was so happy. But by me agreeing to go I knew I would have to do something I would not want to do. Your favor. But....everyone has to do something they don't want to do. It's life. So, I will do it. Just...I need liquor."

Another pause passed. He licked his lips staring at the ceiling in thought. Then he made a spinning motion with one finger. "Turn around and face that wall." He said with no humor or recognizable emotion to her.

Nichole was going to speak and in some way ask why, but the look in his eyes stopped her. She sighed and turned herself around to face the wall. She did not touch the wall, but was so close to it. She crossed her arms waiting for something to happen.

She heard noises behind her. The Joker was shuffling through things; drawers or papers. Nichole couldn't tell.

Suddenly the noises stopped and she could hear him walking towards her. Each footstep against the hardwood floor would get closer and closer each minute.

Looking at the wall, she could see his shadow, his outline, growing larger and larger as he walked towards her. It was menacing in a way, but the only fear she felt was of any pain he would cause her, since he looked very angry with her.

The only fear she now held from him, was not of him, but of the pain. Deep cuts that would bleed. She did not want to feel that pain, unless it was herself giving her those cuts. She did not fear death, only a slow death. But now with her new way of thinking, she started to feel now in this moment as if a slow death wouldn't be that bad after all. Few hours of pain or few days of pain and that was it.

_Maybe I should not fear that. Have no fears but the element of surprise, which brings fear to everyone. There is not stopping the jolt of fear you get when something unexpected happens._ She sighed, starting to space out and think randomly. _Fear was his tool. Now it's gone. An artist with no paintbrush. A writer with no pencil. A craftsmen with no hammer. A hooker with no pole. A-_

Suddenly she saw a bottle in front of her face, in the Joker's hand. He stood behind her, with one hand on the back of her hip and the other showing her the bottle of liquor in her face.

She reached up to grab it, but he recoiled his hand, instantly at her slightest movement with a snicker.

Nichole spun around to face him. He leaned forward so he was inches from her body.

"My secret stash." He shook the bottle back and forth in his hand, grinning. "But Nichole....I should hope that you are not lying to me about this. I should hope that you will not pass out on me in the middle of this." He leaned forward, pinning her to the wall with his chest. "Because remember, I have a knife with your name printed nicely on it. I will always have that knife Nichole. Even if you were to ever throw your arms around me willingly, I would always have that knife. Once a name is on it, it never comes off."

He pushed the bottle into her hand and let out a snort. "Don't take too long to get ready. I'm not sure how much longer I can wait-_tah_." He turned around and walked back to the chair and sat down.

She tightly gripped the bottle in her hands and knew the moment she started to drink from its guilty waters belonging to the devil, that there would be no going back. Once she started she would not be able to stop.

She shook it around in her hands once, before pulling off the cap. She looked at the Joker as she brought the rim to her lips and plugged her nose.

He was hunched over in his seat, staring mainly at her legs and stomach. His lips were apart, but his teeth were set together as he hissed out his long deep breaths trying to resist all the urges whizzing through his twisted mind. Both his hands were on his knees as he continued to stare, without even the slightest change of facial expression at her.

She swore she saw his teeth pull apart and come back together twice, as if he was biting at the air while he stared at her, but by this point she could not tell.

As the more alcohol began to run down her throat, her mind was slowly starting to blur. Its affects slowly sinking in as she gulped down as much as she could with a plugged nose, before taking a break for air. As she started to drink again, scrunching her nose as the strong taste, the Joker then licked both his lips and once his tongue retreated to the inside of his mouth, he sucked on his bottom lip for a while.

She couldn't help but watch him. His animal like behavior always piqued her curiosity, for it was so unusual and fascinating to think that one man_ really_ and _truly_ acted like that.

The bottle was half way drained, and the affects were already well enough that she could give him what he wanted without fault, but she really wanted to be out of it so that her embarrassment would be completely drained.

She started to think back to a memory from her college days while she continued to chug the rest of the bottle.

_The college dorm's hallway was crowded by dancing drunken students. Throughout the hallway was trash littered everywhere and the distinct smell of body odor and alcohol. Music was coming from many rooms that hosted the party and they all combine to create a nameless upbeat tone._

_Nichole took her next shot, and that was followed by loud cheers. She let her hands go above her body as she took in the drunken cheers and smiled smugly. _

_Brooke, one of Nichole's classmates, came over with a shot she had received from one of the dorm rooms and rammed it down her own throat. "Nichole! Look over thur...." She pointed at the room opposite to them._

_Inside Tom was sitting on the computer desk chair with a couple of his friends, watching a sports game. Each of them held a bottle of beer in their hands and were raging drunk._

_Brooke nudged Nichole, eyeing the man next to Tom, Robert whom she had quite a couple experiences with in her past. "I think Tom and Robert look bored. I think tha the ga-mah is 'ery slow tonight!" Brooke slurred out, almost tripping over a can that was kicked in their general direction by another person._

"_Well whadda ya expect? The team they love hasn't won in over eight years!" Nichole yelled to Brooke, trying to get her to hear her over the loud music coming from the guy walking around with an over sized boom box._

"_We should brighten their days!" Brooke cheered. "And I know how! Nichole let's dance for them!"_

"_Whaaaaaa? But what if I mess up girl?" Nichole laughed. "I'm not a dancer!"_

"_Just pretend he's a pole. Come on! It will be like that time in Vegas when we all went illegally into that bar and danced on the poles! We only got free drinks cause the manager and Stacey were doing a little something something in the back room!" She laughed, and went into a coughing fit as she tried to drink more mid-laugh._

"_Okay! WAIT! Give me one more sip of something!" Nichole giggled._

_Brooke looked around furrowing a brow looking for a drink. A random boy walked by clutching two bottles of Smirnoff. Brooke reached out and took one._

"_Thank you!" She said snorting and handing it to Nichole._

_Nichole took a chug, before dropping the bottle to the ground without thinking, sending glass and alcohol everywhere. "Ah! Okay let's go!"_

_Brooke winked at her as she gave Robert the signal. Robert gave her the thumbs up, as he got up and started hooking in the stereo. All of the other guys in the room were fully aware of Tom's birthday surprise and they hid their grins. _

_Brooke stepped behind Tom and smoothly tied a hankerchief over his eyes to the back of his head. _

_Tom chucked and tried to pull it down from his face._

"_Hey! Hey!," Brook said, batting his hands away, "You will ruin your birthday present."_

_At that point dance music was blasted into the room as Nichole strutted up and straddled his lap…_

With the bottle empty she bent to her left placing it on the ground, by the wall she stood by.

"While I'm young Nichole......" The Joker teased, growing impatient.

She noticed now, being taken away from her memory that caused her to stare idly at the wall behind the Joker, that he was looking even more fidgety than before. He was drumming his fingers on his lap and tapping his feet.

Jasper's music was still playing downstairs. It was muffled from the floor that separated them, but the beat could be heard.

_He's doing that to block out whatever sounds we make!_ Nichole giggled in her mind, completely drunk at this point.

"Okay okay hold your horses!" She told him, letting her tongue run loose. She started to laugh once again, feeling so ridiculous.

"Just no touching me..." Nichole kept her eyes closed and swayed as she told him, "….unless I tell you that you can. That's my only rule if you want this done right." She nodded more times than necessary, because it felt good on her drunken neck and made her light head feel as if it was flying.

"When your drunk you think you can take control of me Nichole?" He inquired, clearly amused at that.

"Hey buddy, you wanted this. I'm just telling you how I do it. I can just not even bother-" She stopped herself, catching her loose tongue before it ran and crashed completely off track.

He glared at her. "This better be good, Nichole. I think I was giving you something that was almost impossible. So if this isn't good-....I'll find other ways for your payment." He was going to continue to say his threat, but stopped once she avoided his anger by starting to walk towards him.

A tiny bit of blush mixed with her reddened drunk face, as she swayed her hips and possessed a bit of a swagger to her walk.

Once she was closer to him, she could clearly hear each breath coming out of his desiring mouth.

_I have to make this perfect!_ She told herself.

Then she stood in front of him, keeping distance so he would not be able to reach out and touch her.

"Well...Here I fucking go!" She said out loud, meaning to keep that as a thought, but being drunk she did not even realized she had said it out loud.

She started to rotate her hips and planted her feet, running her hands up her own thighs slowly. She bent forward, running her hands on her thighs as she rotated her hips and moved her shoulders in a wavelike motion.

The Joker literally tensed completely at this point. Both his hands on his knees suddenly dug into the material of his purple pants, digging into the skin concealed by them in an attempt to contain himself. The air went cold as he took in a staggering breath and held it in.

Nichole, even though she was drunk, she was not so much that she wouldn't suddenly forget who she was trying to entertain.

_Just pretend it's Tom!_ She told herself in her giddy thoughts as motivation. _If I do that, then I will not focus on how stupid I think I look!_

She smirked as she danced, remembering that particular event that happened on Tom's birthday.

She started to move her body to the beat of the music downstairs. In a way she was thankful she could hear the music, for it was providing her with a rhythm. Slowly she walked to the side of his chair, intending on dancing behind him to start off.

To slowly build it up and get herself comfortable.

As she crossed by his side, the Joker reached out one hungry hand and let it attach itself to one of her garters pulling on it lustfully. He was reaching his other hand out now, trying to grab hold of her hip to bring her closer to him.

Nichole looked down at his hand and lightly hit it with her own, in a playful gesture.

"Ah ta-ta." She laughed trying to mimic the saying the Joker would so often say to her when she did something or said something he did not like. "Hands off."

Surprisingly to her, he was letting her have control for now and recoiled his hand to his knee, savagely digging into his own skin to keep it locked there.

Nichole walked behind his chair and placed both her hands on the back of his chair. He was looking over his shoulder at her; watching her every movement. She swayed her hips back and forth leaning forward so her head was by his shoulder hovering.

_Please remember how to do this! _She told herself, feeling the alcohol beginning to give her confidence in her actions.

Nichole glanced at the lamp on the side table, and let go off his chair for a moment. She walked over to it, swaying her hips a little more than necessary, so the Joker would have a show to watch. She shut it off and started to walk back to her spot behind his chair with her hands on the back of the chair and her face almost on his shoulder.

"For a better effect." She giggled.

But really she had turned it off, so she felt more comfortable dancing for him. Though there was certainly light still in the room. The street lights outside lighted up his room, since his curtains were wide open at this moment. It was like the illumination of a room with two TVs turned on in it. She would still be able to see him. But, darkness suddenly made her feel better.

Darkness was her new home. Her new place her soul could live without any fear.

She loved it to be around her and it was in that darkness that she grew even more confident than she was with the liquor inside of her.

She was now ready to provide him with what he wanted her to do, with ease.

After feeling and seeing no movement in her for quite some time (due to her thinking to herself) the Joker slowly reached one hand up and grabbed one of her shoulders, letting his hand glide down it till it reached her hand. Then he took her hand and covered the top of it with his and brought it around his shoulder until he guided it onto his chest. Nichole leaned her head on his shoulder opposite to the one her arm was currently being hoisted over.

_It's Tom. _Nichole told herself laughing. _It feels like Tom. If I shut my eyes._

He ran her hand up his covered chest, letting it feel the material of his vest and shirt. Her chest was pressing against the back of his shoulders and neck.

He made her other hand run up to his neck and under his chin, until it reached his face. He took her hand and placed her fingers on his lips, where he proceeded to lick at her fingers. His tongue ran between her fingers greedily and then down her whole hand to her wrist.

She giggled. "Tom wouldn't do that!" She mumbled drunkenly into his shoulder, as her head fell into it.

His tongue left her hand. "What?" He asked, honestly not hearing her; too caught up in his current activity.

Her mind said next the only thing logical that could come to her mind to cover up what she had just said: "I said that tickles!"

_You...SUCK._ Candy started to laugh.

_No. I believe that was you four fucking nights ago._ Nichole sneered at her.

Nichole then slipped her hand from his grip and slowly walked around so she was **right** in front of the chair. She kept her back to him and focused on the wall way ahead of her. She was so close to him that she could feel his knees shaking against the back of her legs.

With her back to him, she could easily pretend it was Tom yet again that was sitting in the chair tensed up, instead of the Joker.

Confidence was key right now. Alcohol and shadows provided that confidence so easily.

Nichole kept herself in rhythm of the beat and slowly bent down in front of him; letting her hands glide down her legs. As she brought her hands up her legs, she straightened her body up and glanced back at him without actually seeing him.

With the built up confidence in her, she fluidly arched her rear back so it was just grazing his lap. She kept all of her support with her hands on her knees as she bent forward. She let her abs do all the work as she moved her waist up and down to the rhythm, swaying her hips seductively. Her rear barely brushed against his pants, feeling the sign of his arousal, even for the few moments she could just barely feel him against her rear.

She was teasing him and she knew it.

She heard a groan but didn't stop moving.

The Joker was shifting his hips with her movements so she felt more of his pelvis on her rear. Nichole swallowed an intake of air as she felt rough fingertips brush against her bare rear. She swore she could also feel him staring at where his fingers were touching.

_Tom's hands wouldn't feel like that…._

A sudden feeling of the cool air passed itself over her now exposed rear, since he lifted the skirt up over her waist. She figured that he wanted to take a good look at what he was feeling. His soft caresses on her cheeks then began to grope and dig into her skin.

He was starting to expose the animal within himself as he fondled her viciously. She felt his rough and calloused hands squeeze harder and try to take more of the skin in his grip.

All this while Nichole did not realized that she was getting lower and lower on him as she continued to rock her hips.

Nichole dug her teeth into her bottom lip to keep from gasping when she felt his breath on her bare skin. She heard him murmur something, but she could not understand what he said. Without warning, she felt his teeth scrape against her skin.

_Okayyyyy_…. She thought …_ getting a little to frisky here!_

As she stealthily tried to move forward the Joker had placed both of his hands on the back of her hips and yanked her backwards. She landed fully on his lap, with her back leaning into his chest.

He couldn't take the distance between them any longer.

To give him the hint that it was ONLY a lap dance she was giving, she gripped the sides of the chair and continued to move her hips and grind her rear into his pelvis. He groaned as he followed her movements.

He placed his hands on her bare stomach and ran one in each direction. One of his hands ran over her chest; traveling all the way up to her shoulders, where he pushed her into him more. He then slide it back down to land on her breast and squeeze at its material covered flesh; upset that even his fingernails could not break through the black cups concealing her. However, his fingertips landed on her juicy flesh.

His other hand remained on her stomach for a little, clawing at the lower portion of her stomach; leaving behind red marks. His wandering hand slipped onto her skirt to grope at her bestially. The Joker's fingers bent underneath the skirt, moving her underwear to the side with his fingers. Fighting for entrance. Fighting for pleasure.

Nichole allowed him to for the time being. Her mind was traveling back to when she was on Tom. Her body was in this exact position, but of course nothing as intimate as now was happening. Tom had just held her to him in a hug type way, and not as if she was an animal. She was now being swallowed whole.

The Joker was going all out.

While on him, she could literally feel how hot he was. His cloths held damp moisture to them, as he was sweating profoundly. She could feel his chest rise up and down quickly in his aroused state. And of course she could feel his hardness against her rear. A sign she was doing her job alright for now.

His fingers succeeded in slipping the material to the side. She leaned her head forward, looking at his hand that was covered by her skirt. She gasped when she felt his fingers touch her and move over her clit to the speed of their movements.

His finger then danced its way inside of her and he took no time to go to his own rhythm of pleasure. He placed his chin on her shoulder and breathed heavily into her ear, before lightly biting the top of it. His finger slightly twisted inside of her causing her to fidget at the jolt of pleasure entering her body.

"Oh God…" She breathed as she leaned her head back on his shoulder. She moaned softly at his dominance and sudden pace of pleasure. She grinded her rear into him faster as he followed. His finger continued moving in and out of her before she let out another moan as he squeezed a second finger inside of her. She reached her hands back and held on to the back of his neck as she panted and moaned.

His left hand on her breast then slid across her chest to her right breast before moving his hand into the cup of her bra and squeezed her whole breast. He groaned as his thumb and finger found her nipple before pinching it as he continued to grope and finger her. This caused her quiet sounds to become a little louder.

His fingers moving inside of her caused her to shake as her breast jiggled in his hand. In the back of her mind, Nichole felt sick at how the texture of his filthy, rough, and chapped up fingers felt inside of her as well as his long nails moving against her tight walls.

But Nichole was extremely too trashed to dwell on it or do anything.

Her body slumped and willingly leaned back onto him as he worked his magic fingers inside of her. His other hand was acting as if it was permanently attached to her breast.

Nichole then leaned her head back on his shoulder, letting her neck bend backwards so she was looking up at the ceiling.

The Joker took this time to suck on her neck as her breathing picked up and she was fighting the urge to close her eyes.

The shadows on the wall were inviting her in and she was accepting it. The shadows pressing her to continue and scolded her embarrassment inside of her.

She could feel his breath on her neck as he just rested his mouth on the patch of her newly red skin.

Just then she came to her senses.

_This isn't a lap dance!_ She reminded herself in her mind that had been overtaken by the pleasure it was receiving. _He asked for one damn it and that's what he's going to get!_

Nichole pushed her feet onto the ground and leaned her body forward. He let his fingers and hand leave her as she suddenly got off of him. She straightened out her thong and adjusted her breast before she turned around and faced him. He had a mix between anger, disappointment, and confusion.

"That..._That_ is not in my services." She said as playfully as possible; which wasn't hard since anything she would say when drunk sounded in that tone of voice. "You wanted a lap dance. That's what you will get. If you want that save it for later." She poked his nose with her finger to humor him and because she really did not care what he thought of her at the moment.

The Joker did not say anything for a moment. He then started grinning, leaning back in his chair. His hands went to his belt and he unbuckled it.

"What are you doing?" She asked, not able to hide the slight panic in her voice. She thought he was going to take it off and beat her again. She saw the belt's ends hang loosely on him as he unbuttoned his pants. His hands returned to his knees.

"Just getting comfortable, babe. Don't worry. I'll play along with you, now that you have taken control of my game so it seems. I want to see what you'll do." He licked his lips once more.

She still didn't move, she could hardly keep her eyes open as she looked at him with drunken suspicion.

He threw his hands up in the air. "Oh no keep on going please. Don't let me making myself relaxed, interrupt your dance." He chuckled.

Nichole bit into part of the side of her cheek inside her mouth and danced her tongue on it as she thought of what to do next.

Then a wicked smile played across her face.

She lifted her foot up and in a swift movement, had it land on the space in the chair between his legs. She then bent ber body forward and closed her eyes as she ran her hands over her legs seductively. She then moved her hands slowly up her lower legs and over the garters on her thigh and lifted her skirt slightly to give him a peak of her inner thigh. As the music rolled she leaned back and moved her hands over her stomach and up and over her breasts before moving them to her neck. She curled her fingers into the sides of her head as she spun her head, feeling the vibe of the music.

When she felt rough hands start to slide up her leg, she then moved her foot from the chair to the place in between his two feet planted on the ground. She felt him push his feet into hers, locking into that spot. She placed her hands above his shoulders on the back of the chair and lowered her upper body down, curling her body like a snake. She was eye level with him. She rotated her shoulders, keeping her hands gripped to the wood of the chair, and danced for him.

She made sure to raise her body up a bit every so often so her cleavage would be at his eye level for some time.

She was now learning how to use _her_ tools to _her_ advantage.

_I'll have to keep this in mind._ She told herself. _If I can remember this in the morning._

His hands made their way to her hips, and then down to her rear. He lifted her skirt from behind and trailed her fingers over her exposed bottom. She felt his long nails scratch the skin on there.

She made her forehead press into his and stared into his eyes. She could feel his makeup being sticky from his sweat and immediately clinging to the skin she pressed onto his. She lingered like that for a moment, before moving her head away from his and arched her back, letting her chest come back into his viewing range.

_His weakness..._.She thought absently.

A thought came into her dazed mind, and she let one hand release its grip on the chair and trailed down his shoulders to his chest. She found the button of his green vest and undid it.

He grinned as she moved one leg over him and sat down on his lap (keeping a slight distance from his groin) and straddled him; causing him to tighten his grip on her rear, leaving claw marks in her skin.

"And what_-tuh_… my dear, do you think you're doing?" He asked, smugly, giving her ear a little shake as she sat on him.

"Just....making you more comfortable." She giggled, holding in her hiccups.

_I'm playing his game and I am winning._ She cheered to herself slowly.

"How thoughtful..." He mused seductively.

"I…._knooooooowwww_…." she slurred and rolled her eyes to the back of her head as she swayed her head back and forth slightly. She giggled and then focused her eyes back on her task.

She then let that hand start to undo all his buttons on his bluish gray shirt; starting from the top and working her way down. His grin got wider the lower she went. Once it was open, she pushed the sides of the shirt to the side, leaving his front open and exposed.

With this she could clearly see how much his chest was rising up and down and how heavy he was really breathing. She could also see he had some new cuts and bruises, which she did not cause. He had received them on the three days he was gone. None looked very severe, but the bruises looked painful.

Choosing to ignore them, she arched her back and moved her shoulders with the music as she placed her hand on his neck and trailed her fingers down his chest. His hot sweaty skin, made her knees buckle from the amount of sweat sticking to her fingers.

Three days of desire were coming out in this moment. He had the addiction to her now and it was growing each time. It was turning to the point where it was almost insatiable.

Feeling the urge to humor him even more, Nichole reached up and took his tie into her fingers, grinning proudly. She loosened it easily and slipped it up and off of his head. She was feeling so giddy and confident, so she placed the tie around her own neck and wore it proudly; showing if off to the shadows surrounding her.

_If only Tom wasn't blindfolded_…

He looked at her with a grin. "Looks better on you than me." He joked.

Looking her over once more with his eyes, he grew tense once again.

Suddenly the Joker moved one of his hands on her rear, to her the back of her hip. He tightened his grip on her and yanked her whole body forward.

Instead of staying on his lap, he pulled her so she was directly straddling his pelvis. Her legs were parted, with one on each side of him; so now she was straddling him. He pushed her further into him, so there was no distance between her lower region and his, but the clothes that separated them. He kept one hand locked onto her rear, digging his fingers into her skin.

Her hands left their spots on his chest and the back of the chair and now both were on his shoulders. She had not expected this aggressive clinging move, and had to steady herself. Being drunk always made her more clumsy, and during this change of weight distribution she felt as if she was going to fall.

But even if she had started to fall the Joker would have held her up. He clung to her like a little girl would to her doll.

Never letting go.

Never loosening his grip.

The hand on her hips traveled and rested on her upper back. To make herself more comfortable she wrapped her arms around his neck and let her fingers intertwine.

He then looked at her for a moment, without making any movements. "I'm taking back control of this game Nichole. To me...this is still a dance." He grinned.

Before she could protest, his hand on her back snaked its way to the tie dangling from her neck and pulled on it roughly causing her mouth to veer foreward to meet his.

Even his lips were sweating.

He kept his grip on the tie tight and steady as the makeup smeared onto her face as he began to move his lips around hers. He sucked on her bottom lip for a bit, tilting his head so he was in control of all movement. He then slipped his tongue into her mouth.

Sweat from his face and makeup had managed to make its way into her mouth as he began to move his tongue inside of her.

Nichole became even dizzier as she tried to move.

He pulled the tie forward when she tried to lean back from him to take a breath of air.

Giving up and wanting to ease the strain on her neck, she followed his movements with her head, seeing no point in stopping now.

_It was going to happen somehow, so might as well let it happen, _the shadows were telling her. And now she listened to the shadows. Too long had she ignored what they were telling her. Too long had she gone against the course of the river, but now she let it carry her in the direction it was flowing.

She wasn't swimming in it, just floating like a stick.

Soon she met the ocean.

She let her tongue smash into his, to his delight. She moved her head with his and even traced his lips with her tongue. The makeup and sweat combine into an odd taste in her mouth, which was oddly satisfying for her drunken self. Her teeth were stained with red and the salt in her mouth reminded her of oceans. His tongue was swimming in her ocean like an unwelcome shark.

But now her tongue was swimming in his ocean as well, but as a welcome piece of _drift_wood.

He let go of the tie and quickly attached his hand to her rear. His other hand soon followed.

He ran his tongue over her teeth, taking off most of the clinging red makeup. His hands were rubbing and pushing on her back and rear. His body started grinding into her.

Since the chair was so old and the floor was so uneven, the grinding movements caused the chair to rock back and forth slightly at the weight change in the rhythmic pattern. The chairs opposite legs were never on the ground at the same time when normally placed on the ground, and now they were hitting the ground every few seconds as he grinded her into him before she started to move her hips on her own.

Her fingers extended outwards as they remained laced behind his neck.

He was giving her pleasure again and she felt it.

Her sweet spot was moving against the hardness that was trapped beneath his pants.

Their tongues danced together to the music that was playing from Jasper's room.

"Oh fuck…" she groaned into his mouth.

"I'm so fucking trashed…" she whispered. But why did she whisper that?

His mouth pulled away from hers and her tilted her head to the side with his hand, as his mouth found a spot on her neck and began to kiss at it; leaving no spot untouched. Her mouth was by his ear, so he was able to take in every moan that left her trembling alcohol scented lips. He found a spot of skin he really liked, and began to suck on it roughly.

He felt the goose bumps form on her skin, as his tongue licked and sucked at it; saliva soaking her neck. He sucked harder as she let out a moan into his ear. Her heavy breathing, beckoning him to continue.

She groaned loudly from the pain as he started to bite as he sucked. It felt like he was trying to suck and tear the skin off of her neck.

Once he could feel the blood rise from her pores, he stopped and leaned his head back. He took the hand on her back and brought it up to the ends of her hair. He tugged on her hair playfully, yanking her head backwards so she faced the ceiling. Her upper body tilted back at this gesture and her back arched.

She let out a shaky breath as the looked up. The ceiling then started to tumble down onto her. The shadows stopped talking. She could see and feel the room shaking, but yet she couldn't hear it.

"What's… what's happening?" She asked in her slur. The shadows had stopped talking. She was starting to feel an extreme wave of uneasiness wash over her and something probed inside of her alcohol filled belly.

The Joker heard her and chuckled.

"Hey!" The Joker said in his laughter as he lightly smacked her cheek, "Come on come on… stay with me! You better not pass out on me already… not when it's just beginning."

His other hand on her rear moved up to the back of her bra.

"Now this." He started to unhook it. "Needs to go." He breathed heavily, sending her breath onto her face.

He unhooked it with some trouble due to its tightness. It fell forward a bit. He pulled the bra away from her sweating skin like clockwork.

It fell off of her arms. "Please tell me what is happening." She whispered to the ceiling. She could feel the sudden cool air on her exposed chest. She was then covered in goose bumps.

He licked his lips, eyeing her exposed breasts with hunger. He wanted to take a bite.

He was starting to move his hands forward towards her breasts and body that was still leaning back away from him, from when he had yanked at her.

She was starting to feel dizzy and have a slight headache from the liquor, and knew if he started to touch and bite at her breasts, she would feel even dizzier.

For once tonight she was going to stop him, but very discreetly and playfully.

She suddenly took her hands and quickly slipped them into his lurching ones closing on our her breasts. She slipped her fingers in between his and curled them in his. She pushed against his hands, pushing towards him with a grin on her face.

"I don't think so." She said with drunken confidence.

"You're drunk." He said, in a teasing voice. "You can't think at all."

"That's not true." She slurred, her head bobbed forward.

He began to push back on her hands, intertwining his fingers with hers. He picked up on the pressure he had on his pushing as each second passed. Their hands remained in this battle in the space between their chests.

"Now you're lying to me." He chuckled.

"Well…" She opened her eyes and lazily tilted her head to the side, "…at least I can think straight enough to know this is not what you said when you wanted this favor. You went further." She still used a playful voice, to hide her slight irritation.

"So what if I am? Three days of nothing is hard, Nichole."

"Just like you are right now!" She started to burst out into a fit of drunken laughter.

He started to laugh at her, but took this moment of her weakness to push his hands even more against hers, until her hands were the only thing blocking him from her two breasts.

She was able to recuperate, and she extended her arms outwards, while his hands were still intertwined with his. She smiled smugly, as now even if he pushed on her hands, he would just be groping at the air to the side of them.

He tried to bend his elbows and get his hands closer to her breasts, but she had him locked in position.

"You think you are so smart?" He said leaning his face closer towards hers, clearly amused.

"Why yes in fact I think I am." She said mimicking his actions, hinting a bit of humor in her tone.

"Heh...I don't think so." A huge grin spread over his face. He then pulled their hands up and over their heads.

"Oh no you don't!" She smirked and leaned her head back as she followed his hands with hers.

The Joker then used his strong arms to bring their hands back down and he pushed her arms back as hard as he could. This caused Nichole to arch her back as she tried to fight the pressure of his hands. Then, as she started to lean back forward, he quickly shoved his face into her chest.

"No…" Nichole groaned. Shadows spun as did her head. "Stop…" she said, with no force or meaning whatsoever. Suddenly, everything was spinning. She was floating over her own head. She looked down as herself and saw her sitting on the Joker's lap. Her head was cringing as it leaned back and spun and spun.

He traced his tongue on her nipple, lightly biting down on it. He warmed her chest from the cold bitter air with his saliva, sweat, and makeup. He began to suck when he attached his whole mouth to it. She arched her back and the surge of pleasure she was receiving and involuntarily arched her back, causing her breasts to lean forward into his mouth more.

Her chin rested on the top of his head, as he continued to let his tongue explore her breasts. His hair would rustle against the bottom of her chin as his head moved. She leaned her head's weight onto his head and her whole body slumped into him as she moaned out as he bit down on her nipple.

Her head was spinning down and down. Just like his tongue was spinning around and around.

In that time, she let go of his hands in hers and let them go limp by her sides. He returned his hands to the spots that were aching to be. They both went to her rear, under her skirt, and began to claw at her sore cheeks once again. His hands were most definitely leaving behind bruises; by how hard he was gripping and pushing her into him.

She moaned louder as he grinded her into him again. She could feel the hardness moving against her aching clit.

He leaned his head back and looked up at her. Her head was leaning to the side and she had her eyes closed.

"You better stay awake…" He growled. He then took his greedy hands from her rear and squeezed her breasts while he looked at them. He moved them in circles with his palms over her nipples.

Nichole could feel burning hands on her chest along with a fixed stare.

His hands moved her breasts together and pushed them to the center of her chest. He covered them with his mouth again. He never got tired of using his mouth as his hands.

Nichole groaned as she felt the saliva stick to her skin. In order to keep up with the pace and keep the room from spinning down and down, she moaned as she started rocking her hips vigorously with him in deep circles.

Finally his mouth left her breasts and trailed up her neck until they came to her face. He kissed and traced with his lips, her jaw bone. His mouth reached her ear and he bit down on it once again; tugging at it. His hands moved back to her rear to keep her steady.

"So tell me...Do you think you're the only one who has a bad side to you? That you are the only one who has a Candy to you? Well let me tell you, I do have a bad side to me...Except I don't have a name for him yet." He brought one hand from her rear to the space between her shoulder blades and pushed her bare chest into his. Her breasts smashed into his chest; sweat and warmth transferring between them both.

"Yes..." Was all Nichole moaned out, as he brought his lips back to hers.

_I wonder if Tom would do this to me._

His lips were even more wet and moist than before. Her lips ached for his to return to hers. She was enjoying this and she could accept this now.

She was pleasing the shadows she was surrounded by.

They wrestled their tongues passionately for a few more minutes.

He brought one of his hands behind her head, letting strands of her hair tangle within his claws. He then moved her head downwards towards his neck, breaking contact with her mouth.

She started to pant as her lips left his greasy lips and were exposed to the air that felt so hot, even though it was chilled.

"Nikki." He moaned out barely audible. He pushed her head into his neck forcefully as his other hand gave her bottom another squeeze.

In her mind, his neck felt so comforting to her. It reminded her of Tom's neck, when she used to snuggle into it at night. She went into to that warmth and began to graze her lips against it. His neck was soaked in his sweat and she could feel each breath of his pass by her as she now let her mouth fully press into his wet neck. Her tongue danced on his sweaty skin.

She sucked on his neck, causing him to rise in his seat slightly in enjoyment.

"Nichole..." He moaned out her full name now into her ear.

He began to grind into her harder, keeping his mouth by her ear; forcing her to hear every staggering warm breath he would take as well as every moan.

As Nichole sucked and bit his neck, a thought flowed into her intoxicated mind. _This is almost like Tom's chest._

She leaned back and stared at his heaving chest.

"Keep going." He complained in an exhale of his hard slow breathing as he stared at her.

She didn't hear him though. She lowered her hands down and over his chest.

_It is Tom's_! She wanted to feel more of him.

She leaned forward and continued kissing and sucking the other side of his neck.

He groaned. She felt his nails start to bite into her rear as he groped and moved her harder on him.

As she trailed kisses and nibbled to the other side of his neck, she ran her fingers over everywhere on his hot and sweaty chest. She moved her hands in and out back and forth across his pectoral muscules while her fingertips trailed over his clavicles. She was delighted when she felt a small almost invisible patch of tiny hairs in the center of his chest. _Just like Tom_. His nipples felt like tiny rocks when she ran her palms over them.

She playfully suck her teeth into his neck as her hands made their way down to his lower torso to his heaving abdominal muscles.

"You really had no life in that cell." She said without thinking as her mind wondered.

She heard him grunt as he continued to rock her. He was _clearly_ enjoying all of the attention she was giving him.

Then to his complete surprise, she trailed her mouth down from his neck and traced her tongue down to to the center of his chest. She had the sudden urge to taste his sweat.

_He won't be able to complain I did a bad job._ She smugly thought.

The Joker let out a muffled breath of air as his breathing increased and he gave one side of her rear an encouraging slap to continue.

As Nichole trailed his chest with her lips, tongue, and teeth, she ran her hands up and down his chest, mixing in her saliva with his sweat. As she continued to explore with her mouth, she slid her hands up to his shoulders, smoothing them back and forth, from the sides of his neck to his shoulders.

She had to feel the body of this man that never failed to overpower her.

She then slid her hands down the tops of his shoulders, feeling both of his biceps.

_He is almost like Tom… But only…. Harder…._

It was true: Every part of the Joker's body was hard. He was powerfully built.

"You really had no life." She said again with her mouth against his chest.

She then rested her hands on his shoulders and backed her head away with an evil grin.

She then decided to do another big move she did for Tom on his birthday.

She flicked her head as she let her long hair fall over her back. While gripping his shoulders, she leaned back and used her strong abbs to grind herself with him. She always found it easier to grind harder when she would lean back. She dreamly swayed her head.

The Joker grunted and tightened his grip on her left butt cheek while his other hand fastened to her right breast.

_Now it's not him._

"_C'mon babe, C'mon_," Nichole heard those sounds. She wasn't sure if they were from Tom or the Joker.

She moaned as he viciously groped both parts of her body.

He wanted to hear more of her noises. He then pinched her delicate nipple. She let out a stifled cry of pain as her hands tightened on his shoulders while her hips made deep and circular movements.

The Joker stared at her leaning back figure, and grinned. He wanted to see more movements. He used his wrist to flick his hand as he started to sporadically smack the bottom and side of her breast with his fingers and palms. He grew harder and harder each time he saw it jiggle fluidly from his smacking.

She then leaned forward on him and pressed her forehead against his. He moved his hand back to the other side of her rear.

Nichole let the music consume her as she moved up and down up and down as she bumped and grinded him.

She wanted to be reminded of someone else again.

She then rested her hand on the left side of his chest, quickly flicking his nipple with her thumb a few times. She felt the Joker's bite and bite into her rear but she did not care. She trailed her mouth down to the spot where her hand was.

The Joker gasped when he felt her take his nipple in between her teeth while she ran her tongue over it in her mouth.

_That's what you get._

She started to wonder if the alcohol he gave her was drugged.

After a few strokes with her tongue, she let go and whipped the spit from where her mouth was. She then groped her hand tightly on the muscle in his chest, feeling it's masculinity before her lips surrounded his nipple again as she felt him.

The Joker moaned and smacked her ass with a deathly hand as she sucked his peak.

She took her mouth off him and kept repeatedly flicking and circling the hard peak with her tongue before placing her mouth fully on it again.

All this time that her mouth gave his nipple attention, she never stopped running her hands on every part of the front of his torso. She even trailed her fingers from his sides to his back, under his shirt. She could feel his cuts, and scars that he got from the few days he was away. She could also feel his hard back muscles under her hands as she playfully nibbled his nipple. She then rested her hands on his hard stomach as she looked up and trailed her tongue up the center of his chest to his exposed throat (since his head was leaning back in the heat of the moment) and up to his chin. Her hands were following shortly after her mouth.

The Joker tried to lean forward and kiss her, but she quickly brought her right hand to the back of his head and yanked him back by his hair. The Joker smiled and laughed.

She remembered doing this Tom when he tried to kiss her. She then grinned as she leaned forward and sucked and bit roughly on his neck.

His hair was greasy and dirty. It felt like griping and losing a hand in a dirty old mop; soaked with water. Only the water in his hair was sweat and grease.

After leaving brutal marks on his neck, she decided to mimic what he had done to her; hoping that would be something he would enjoy. She let her lips trail up to his ear and then across his jaw bone; picking up makeup the entire way.

Instead of going to his lips, she moved up and kissed the side of his face. She reached his forehead and let her lips plant a kiss lightly in the center of it.

He placed his mouth back on the nape of her neck and she tilted her head upwards, allowing him full access. He picked up vigorously once more, and she would jolt a bit in her spot every time he would swirl his tongue around her skin.

"Why do you do this to me?" She moaned out, as he brought his mouth to the edge of her lips. "You make me so weak."

He kept his mouth on the corner of hers for a moment, before placing his mouth by her ears. "Because...I know your new weakness....and it happens to be something I am good at and enjoy....as much as you do now, it appears."

Her fingers were still tangled within his hair. She felt his grease and sweat dripping on her fingers.

He pushed on the back of her neck, making her chin rest on his shoulder; looking behind him. He began to plant kisses on her bare shoulder slowly, reaching up her neck to her cheek.

"I want you like an animal wants it prey while it's kicking and screaming." He cooed into her ear, as he pushed her head back once more and met her lips.

His grinding picked up and both his hand landed on her rear pushing her into him so hard to the point where it started to hurt.

Nichole winced. Even though she was trashed and intoxicated so much, she knew her crotch would surely be sore by the time this ordeal was over.

He let his legs bop up and down, causing Nichole to bounce slightly on his lap. She let go of his hair and pushed on his neck moaning into his mouth.

He started to tug on her skirt.

She groaned and her eyes rolled to the back of her head as she felt his hands slam her up and down on him. She leaned her head on his shoulder as she stared at the ground in pure disgust.

Why did she feel it _now_?

Without warning, she felt two strong hands move to her shoulders and shove her entirely off of him.

Nichole let out a painful cry as she felt the back of her head crack against the hard wood floor. Stars literally formed in front of her eyes. When she opened them so she could only see through the veil of her lashes, she saw the ceiling and the lights illuminating the room outside of the window turn into a spinning maelstrom of confusion. Everything spun and spun until she could feel the movement of her hands. She landed a few feet away from the chair, dazed. The alcohol caused her vision to be blurry for a moment upon impact.

She groaned as she tried to wiggle her fingers that were spread out from her sides. She thought she was giving him what he really wanted.

But then as her vision came back into focus did she realize, she really _did _give him what he wanted....

...but she had done her job too well.

He was hunched over, staring at her as if he was in pain; keeping his mouth in a straight tight line. His hands were on his knees digging into the fabric.

Nichole moaned, feeling completely weak and drunk in her state. Everything was blurry to her half shut eyes. It felt like the front of her forehead was caving outwards.

The Joker eyed Nichole hungrily: He took in the topless, almost exposed sight of her. He took in how her sweaty form gleamed in the light. He loved how her eyes were closed and her mouth was slightly open as she chest heaved, trying to take in the impact.

She was helpless and he loved it.

Nichole groaned and turned her head as she saw a dark figure move down from the chair and hunch at her feet. Her breath picked up as she closed her eyes. She realized that the shadows were here and coming to take her in and swallow her up.

She suddenly didn't have the power to move her arms as the dark figure started to crawl over her body, but not touching it. She could feel the shadow's heavy breath on her cool belly and she took in the face that either side of its' shroud was next to her hips.

_Nichole? Nichole!_ Candy spoke. _Snap out of it dammit!!! It's not the shadows you idoit! It's the Joker and he is about to take you while your weak!!_

Nichole gasped as she snapped open her eyes. Sure enough, the Joker was hunched over in the position of him crawling. On either side of her was one of his knees resting on the ground. His head was at the section of her stomach as he eyed her body hungrily, licking his lips. She could feel his sweaty hair tickle her belly.

"Please don't…..I'm going to be sick." She whispered, her voice shaking. She had the urge to throw up all the sudden. The movement of up and down on his lap had finally hit her in her drunken state and the pit of her stomach felt shaky.

With that, the Joker let out a shout of pain and frustration as he leaned into a crouch over her, resting on his feet.

He sat like that crouching above her stomach, for a few moments before letting out another growl and standing up, literally stepping over her and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door shut.

It hit Nichole what he was doing in there the moment she heard him turn the sink's water on and started to cover up the moans he was making.

In her daze state of mind, she covered her ears.

"Well....shit this is awkward." She mumbled to herself and Candy. She was thankful she was not facing the direction of the door.

She realized that she had landed on her bra and quickly put it on her. She then sat up and faced the bathroom door, covering her ears again.

After a few more moments, the sink was turned off and Nichole bravely took her hands off of her ears. She cringed when she just heard heavy breathing from the bathroom now. And then, silence.

Nichole let out a breath to release her relief. Just as she was about to sit up and turn her head, she heard another tight growl from the bathroom…. Before she heard the sink turn on again and heard the terrifying sounds he was making.

She covered her ears again.

_Shit…_Candy said_, I'm impressed… you turned him on enough to give himself a double rounder!_

"I can see that…" Nichole groaned, speaking out loud to Candy without a care if the Joker heard her through his current activity.

Then she heard the toilet flush and the sink turn off.

The door opened and there, the Joker stood in the threshold with one hand leaning on the door frame and the other on his hip. His eyes were shut and his mouth possessed the smuggest grin it ever had. He looked as if he had just achieved something grand.

"Ah so much better now." He sighed, opening his eyes to look at Nichole heavenly.

She remained sitting upright on the ground, staring in disgust at him.

"Ew..." she said without thinking.

He ignored what she said, and continued to grin; walking over to her and offering a hand to help her stand up.

"Well Nichole I think I might just have to get you drunk more often." He chuckled.

"I am not drunk!!" She spat shooing away his hand as she began to attempt to stand up on her own, but staggered forward landing her face into his knees. To keep herself from falling even more and smacking her face into the ground or his shoes, she placed on hand on his lower leg and pushed herself back into a sitting position.

"Yeah...I can see that's working out nicely for you." He rolled his eyes smirking. "Well if you're just gonna be difficult about this-" He leaned down and scooped her up in his arms bringing her to the bed.

He let her drop from his arms with ease and she hit the bed. Nichole rolled onto her stomach and let her face sink into the sheets. Her arms went outwards, as did her legs, and she literally took up all the space. She just layed spread-eagled on the bed.

The Joker peered down at her and stiffed a laugh. "You're going to have to move over darlin'."

"But I'm comfortable." She mumbled to the mattress. All she wanted to do was sleep as the alcohol was begining to cause her to gain the feeling of passing out.

"Well I'm not." He said as he poked her bare side with two fingers.

She grumbled and rolled over a few times so she was on the side by the wall. The rolling process was satisfying to her in her drunken state of mind. The mattress felt as if it was a cloud to her; weightless and light.

The Joker climbed into bed at this point, hopping into it like an overexcited child would.

He had not bothered to take off or button his shirt up the entire time.

The shadows on the ceilings were causing Nichole to feel so suddenly and unexpectedly alone.

Staring up at the nothing of the walls; it was as if no one was with her.

Nichole rolled over on her side, so she would face him. She needed a reminder that she wasn't alone and the shadows did not have control over her.

_I'm losing my mind yet again.._.She thought absently. She suddenly had an urge to see her own blood. A small idea ran through her mind that if the Joker were to fall asleep and she was still awake, she may just go into the bathroom and cut up her arm or leg to see it.

_You do that....I will stop you by screaming and alerting the Joker. If you start to do that routine you did by yourself in front of him...I swear to god I will wake him up!_ Candy yelled at Nichole.

She leaned her head up off the bed and placed her hand underneath it, resting her elbow on the bed. She looked at the Joker, who was lying on his side facing her as well.

His makeup was entirely smudged and he still appeared to be out of breath. "Well I think we are about even now." His eyes suddenly traveled down to her bra covered cleavage. "Just...about...square."

He licked his lips, staring at them yet again like a hungry animal. "I must ask you...since if I don't I'll be laying here thinking about it all night; where did you learn to do that?" He asked, referring the lap dance. "You give ole Tommy boy one?" He winked.

Nichole blinked a moment, registering what he had said. She let her legs straighten out more as she remained laying on her side facing him. There was enough distance between them that would allow her to look him over and not feel his breath on her. This of course also allowed him to look her over in her intimate outfit as well.

"Yes I did actually....and my friends had taught me a while back in college." She said lazily, not really caring if he wanted more details at the moment.

"You could have made it your source of income." He winked again. "Tell me, was it as good when you gave it to him, as it was just a few moments ago?" He smirked, clearly trying to make her admit she enjoyed the lap dance as much as he did.

"Tom was blind folded and his hands were never on me." She paused for a moment, "Actually… they were… but nowhere near as much as yours," She stated, honestly not fazed at all by what he was attempting to do. She really did not care.

"That doesn't answer my question my dear. Not beating around the bush now, are we?"

"If you want to hear it that this time was better, then yes it was. But just so your ego isn't boosted even more than it probably is, I tried to picture it wasn't you and that's why it was so easy to do." She sent a cheeky smile to him. "Oh the powers of alcohol…"

He let one of his hands reach out and took a hold of her chin with enough force to cause her lips to pucker up and open slightly. "My my my, being drunk _really_ makes your tongue run with the wind now doesn't it?"

She jerked her head to the side to free it of his grip. "Not my problem you are just too sensitive to the truth sometimes."

"I disagree. I handle the truth better than anyone. You don't need me to explain that now do you? I think even in your dazed mind you can comprehend what I am saying. All the citizens of this town...now they..._they_ can't handle the truth."

"Okay okay sheash! I don't want a lecture right now. I get it. Honestly I do and you're right." She rolled her dazed eyes, not really in the mood to bat heads.

He raised an eyebrow. "That's a first..." He muttered, more to himself than her.

His hand left her face and returned down to his side relaxed. He looked back down at her covered cleavage hungrily once more. "So...I see you've decided to be your annoying self and be all modest on me and cover yourself up."

She stiffed a laugh. "Don't lie! You like it when I am my modest annoying self."

Nichole took her free hand and placed it outwards in front of her face. Her hands always fascinated her when she was intoxicated. She waved it slowly back and forth and then turned it over so the back of her hand faced her; then she did the same thing.

"As much as I would like to agree with you...I think they look better without it-_tah_." One of his hands reached out for her again. He took a single finger and placed it right where her neck ended. He trailed his finger down her chest slowly; taking extra time when he went in the space between her breasts.

His finger was still covered with sweat and paint. It left her feeling a bit uneasy as his hand trailed all the way down her stomach and over her skirt. Once he reached her leg, he suddenly placed his whole hand on the back of her upper leg, just above the back of her knee. He then pulled her leg towards him and hitched it over his hip; pulling her body into him. Her lower hips and stomach smashed into him, and she arched her back a bit so everything above her chest would have a tiny bit of distance from his body. He let his hand start to stroke her leg softly. It ran down her lower leg and over the bend of her knee. Then he went to her upper leg and stroked it back and forth a few times.

She involuntarily closed her eyes and the massage like feeling it gave her.

She didn't even register that his hands had ran over all the cuts she had given herself and it still did not register most likely he had ran his hands over them during the lap dance.

It took her an extra moment to realize his hand was now gliding up her short skirt and resting on her rear yet again.

"Don't you ever get tired of this?" Nichole asked as she shut her eyes and focused her mind on the feeling of the mattress beneath her. Objects always felt more vivid and almost unrealistic when she was drunk. The mattress felt as if it was not beneath her and simply a thin line of light.

He trailed his hand back down to her leg again. "No. No I don't..."

Without even registering what she did, Nichole moved her leg off of him and rolled herself away from him and laid on her other side, so her back was facing him. "You're crazy." She said while yawning, fully intending to fall asleep right then and there.

The Joker scooted up to her and let his hand rest on her hip. He pushed her body into him and placed his mouth by her ear. "If I'm crazy Nichole....then you are an absolute lunatic....But lucky for you lunatics are the most interesting people because they aren't like everyone else."

Then the Joker kissed the back of her neck a few times, before working his way to the side of her neck. Nichole stared blankly at the wall in front of her as his mouth started to bite and nip at the skin of her neck. His tongue danced over the skin after he left tiny red marks on it with his teeth. The entire time one of his hands trailed up her side, tracing her curves. He reached her shoulder and he pulled down on her bra strap, sliding it down her arm.

She felt the pressure on her shoulder start to ease, and the strap starting to move down her arm. Nichole was once again hit by the cold air.

She cringed when his hand once again groped onto her fleshy mound. While he was still attaching his mouth to her neck, she tried to bend her neck towards his direction to block all neck space to him.

"No… not tonight. I have the worst headache from the drinks." She groaned. Her entire head was throbbing constantly and she had to urge to stick her head between her knees and throw up.

He ignored her and tried to nuzzle his head into her protesting neck. He then tightened his hold on her hip and forced her to flip back over to face him. It wasn't a very hard feat, for her reaction time to this action was very much delayed.

He moved his mouth back to her neck. Nichole was able to hear him started to undo his belt with his other hand.

"Oh God no…" she whispered.

By this point her head felt so dizzy, she knew she would throw up if he continued.

She could feel her stomach rumbling the acids around; warning her they wanted to come out. It was almost as if they were chanting to her, telling her in menacing voices that they were angry.

She groaned and leaned her head to the side as his rough hand continued to grope her only exposed breast.

_I can't let him tonight! I can't! Any other night I really couldn't give a fuck anymore, but not if I am going to get sick on him! _She panicked.

The last thing she wanted to do at this moment was throw up _on_ him.

She brought her hands up and placed them on his chest. "No stop. Please."

He ignored her and moved his other hand to hold her down by pressing on her shoulder.

_To him it sounds like your normal pleads for him to stop! Tell him why or he will just think you are being your normal self_! Candy screamed to Nichole, sensing the issue.

_Sometimes, you are so helpful._..Nichole thanked Candy.

"Not tonight." She repeated. " Any other night sure, but not tonight. My head is killing me." She groaned as he bit down on her neck and the hand that was on her shoulder slid down her body and start to slide under her skirt slowly. "If you don't stop I think I am going to be sick. Please not tonight. Tomorrow. Any other day. I'm serious. I can't move a lot right now without feeling sick. It's cause I'm fucking drunk! Please! Joker! I don't want to! Not right now!" She couldn't help the panic that picked up in her voice. "You can tomorrow I swear! I won't do anything or stop you and I'll do anything you want me too! Just not right now! The dancing is catching up to me!"

He suddenly retreated his hand and his mouth from her neck. He backed his head up enough to look at her. He eyed her with a pure sinister look. Obviously he thought she was just acting in the manner she normally did. "Well then Nikki, what is it that you want to do?" He asked her as he flicked her nipple back and forth with his thumb, "Because after all, I live to serve _you!_" He said sarcastically.

"I-...."

_Great what do I tell him now Candy? _Nichole thought hopelessly. _Even if he believes that I will get sick, he's not going to stop. There is nothing I can say that would-_

Candy then gave Nichole some words to use, "I want to...talk." She said, saying the first thing that came to her mind.

Nichole tried to contain the surprised emotion, trying to play on her face.

The Joker was not expecting that to be her answer. "Talk?"

Nichole had to play with this idea Candy set up and quickly spoke. "Yes...I am being one hundred percent honest. I will throw up if I do any major movements. And besides I....I like to hear the sound of my voice when I'm drunk. Don't ask." She lied.

He clearly was amused by the whole thing. "I didn't know you would miss our nightly chats so much after three days." He started to laugh.

_He doesn't think we are being serious Candy..._ Nichole said negatively.

_Nichole. You are still drunk. He doesn't think you are capable of anything logical at the moment._ Candy sighed.

"I'm curious....if you can keep my interest long enough for me to grow tired enough to go to sleep and overlook what I wanted to do..." He chimed, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear in a mock caring sort of way.

"Um..." She searched her mind for something to say. "Why did you leave so suddenly? You didn't even tell me you were leaving. Just leaving a note for me to read."

After a pause, he started to laugh once more. "Oh my! You really missed me!" He snickered.

She brought up a hand and playfully nudged his shoulder. "No you jerk! It's not that." She laughed at his ridiculous laughter. "It just wasn't like you. You normally say goodbye in person. Why didn't you?"

He shrugged. "That night you were furious and going a little too crazy for my taste. When you finally were sleeping and I woke up to find you still asleep...I didn't want to wake you up and have you have another fit at me again. I'm not a morning person...I'll let you know that now. I have no patience during that time and so if you started screaming I may have just broke your neck, since that morning I was already felt the need to blow off steam, upon entering the building carrying you and seeing my men messed up the order I told them to get for me."

"Oh..." Nichole made her eyes stay locked on his chest rather than his makeup stained face.

She really wanted to adjust her bra.

She searched for something to ask. "What were you doing those days?" She quickly shuffled against him and adjusted her bra strap so it was over her shoulder and her breast was back in its' cup.

"Like I told you in my note...It's none of your concern." He merely stated.

"Well what the fuck is that suppose to mean?" Her drunken tongue ran loose again as she lightly shuffled again on her side getting more comfortable.

He rolled his eyes. "It means...I shouldn't have to tell you everything I do when I am not around you. If I wanted you to know I'd have told you."

"Well you know everything about me." She looked at him with pure curiosity. She then couldn't help but ask the questions that had always been on her mind: "You know everything about me. You...You've seen every part of me. You've done everything you possible could to me....When are you going to be bored of me? When are you going to just kill me? I'm not trying to say this as in I'm fearful, I just want to know what is going through your mind? I should be boring to you by now? You can't possibly be as interested anymore. You've done everything you could have and seen and touched every part of me! Not to mention that you have witnessed every emotion play across my face… What more could you want?!" She spat out, with a burning curiousity.

Ever since last night, she had become more and more interested by how his mind worked. Before, she was too frightened to be curious and dwell on the gears and cogs of his mind, but now she really wanted to know.

He burst out into a laughing fit as he laid on his stomach. He then leaned up and licked his lips. "First of all, babe, we haven't done everything on my check list, which by the way seems to just be getting longer and longer each time I look at you. And second of all your heart has been beating for this long so I'd say your chances are pretty high right now." He counted each item off his finger. "But who knows! I could always change my mind!"

"And if you really want to know, despite what you think, each time just seems to be getting better and better. Your reactions are so…." He licked his lips. "And I'm sure there has to be some patch of skin I haven't run my fingers on." He acted as if she was going to extend his hand out and touch her, but he recoiled at the last moment.

"Ugh… whatever." Nichole said as she rested her elbow on the bed and then placed her head in her hand, leaning on it so she could look at him straight.

He mimicked her position, rather quickly, forming his lips to the shape of an "o" and batted his eyelashes.

Nichole snorted; it was as if he was mocking a playboy model.

"Well that's fucking great to know." She let out a short laugh in her throat. As she looked at him, the alcohol caused his eyes to blend in with the black makeup; so she couldn't see where his eyes were exactly.

After a short pause she spoke again. "Why did you really let me see Gordon?"

"Next question." He said, flicking his hand in dismissal.

"But-" She protested.

"Nope. No answer for that one. Next question."

"Fine." She stuck out her tongue in a childish manner. "Have it your way then....Are you mad that I went out with Jasper?"

The Joker blew out a puff of air in thought. "I would have been… had that piece of clothing not been in there." He grinned. "Funny how it can make all thoughts of anger disappear. Okay enough of _your_ twenty questions...I have a few of my own."

"Alright, go." She shut her eyes keeping her head in the same position. The air around her felt light and her mind clouded. She swore she could feel ice on her back for some reason, but knew nothing was there.

"What did you and the commissioner chat about?"

She opened her eyes to answer him. "About me. About Jasper. About the cuts and bruises I have. About you-"

"About me? Talking behind my back now are you?" He said it in good humor.

Nichole shrugged. "Yup." She said light heartedly.

"Oh… I'm insulted. I thought we were past the childish games and gossip." He placed his hand over his heart acting melodramatic.

She raised an eyebrow at him, before batting the air with her free hand. "Oh shush. What's your next question?"

"Well...I might have asked you this earlier, but I wanted you to do my favor for me first and really it's all about me so I ignored it."

"Just ask me the fucking question!" She chuckled in disbelief. "You tell me I beat around the bush too much? You always do too!"

"On that note..." He sent a glare at her. "I noticed your legs where the tights don't cover my dear and they...seem to be cut up. As well as this-" He reached his hand out and grabbed her wrist of the hand that was under her head. He pulled on that wrist, causing her head to fall to the pillow with a small gasp. He ran his fingers over the bite mark she had given herself. "You seem to be bitten by something....no rabies right?"

She withdrew her hand. "No..."

Even in her drunken state, she could feel a slight panic wash over her. Anything would not set her off right now, but he found the one thing to cause her fear. The fear of him knowing what she did yesterday.

It wasn't something she wanted him to know. And she didn't want him to know about the intense urge she had to grab that razor again and dig it into her skin.

"I fell..." she said, leaning her head back.

"Unless you fell into a wood chip pile and just as you did, you so happen to by a miraculous chain of events, land so your mouth was over your wrist biting down on it, I would believe you. But since that would not be the case I would care to hear something other than that lie you just said." He licked his lips as a warning of his agitation.

"I cut myself shaving." She lied again.

_I'm not gonna tell him. I can't tell him_. She told Candy.

_He's going to fucking find out. You know he is! Way to fucking go! This is all your fault! _She spat back.

He suddenly reached his hand over and placed two fingers on the top and bottom of her lips. He smashed them together and hissed in between his teeth. "You are lying Nikki....It's not a game I like to play."

He released her lips from his fingers and she rubbed them, before turning so she was laying on her back; staring at the ceiling.

"Please.... Can you just drop it?" She rolled her eyes.

"It seems my little attempt to prevent this did not work." He laughed, laying down on his back as well. He placed his hands behind his head and relaxed.

"What? Are you taking all those razors out of your bathroom?" she turned her languished head down, "Did you honestly do that because you thought I was going to kill myself?"

"I told you. I don't want anyone killing you but me. I don't even want you killing yourself, because that's not_-tah_... me." He nodded his head in his hands.

"So....you're not mad?" She asked trying to figure out what he was getting at.

"It's your issues. Not mine." He stated nonchalantly.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah…" she tried to bite back her tongue, but it was already set loose with her intoxication. "And really I am surprised that you stayed up talking to me. Why did you?"

"Because I was waiting to see if you would pass out and I could take advantage of that." He laughed darkly.

"If I was passed out you wouldn't do shit. It wouldn't be fun for you." She spat out, chuckling at his absurdity.

"You don't know that..." He chimed.

With that the two of them stopped talking. Nichole stared at the ceiling and the Joker did the same. Though she could not tell if he was actually staring at the ceiling or if he was sleeping, but she was not about to check.

_He's not my problem anymore... _She thought to herself blankly.

As she stared off into the space of the ceiling, she literally thought about nothing. Nothing was her focus.

Eventually her eyes became heavy, so she closed them.

Nichole laid like that for maybe fifteen minutes before a voice took her away from her blank staring.

She felt a nudge on her arm.

"Are you awake?" The Joker asked.

"No. Go away." She said flatly, opening her eyes.

She heard him chuckle and a pause happened.

The next thing she knew, the Joker had turned over to face her and then rolled over so he was on top of her. He took one hand and placed it on her chin; attempting to veer her attention to him, instead of the ceiling he knew she was still looking at.

"Are you still drunk?" He asked. His tone of voice showed he knew the answer to that question already, but was saying it purely to poke fun at her.

"No." Nichole lied, his voice sounding like a mumble.

"Well I should take a little more advantage of you while you're still intoxicated then, should I?" He asked.

He then took hold of both her wrists in his hands and pinned them to either side of her head. He dipped his head forward and began to viciously suck on her neck. He was literally taking a patch of her delicate skin in his mouth as he sucked the life out of her pores.

Nichole groaned and started to breath heavily, shutting her eyes for a second.

After a moment, while the Joker continued sucking her raw skin bestially, she opened her eyes and focused them on the ceiling. She sunk her teeth into her lower lip and clenched her hands (that he was holding by her wrists) into fists as she stared and stared.

She let in a huge intake of air when he stopped and lifted his mouth off of her. The Joker leaned up and took one of his hands off of her wrist and wiped the spot he was sucking on her skin. After examining the his deep mark for a second, he smirked, and then lowered his mouth down on the same spot.

"Oh God…" Nichole gasped, feeling intense, never ending pain. Her drunken mind told to her say out loud how it felt, "It hurts!"

The Joker smiled into her neck as he began to bite into her raw skin as he sucked.

She moaned and groaned as she kept trying to turn her head. She tried to move her freed arm but she couldn't find the movement. She searched in lethargic desperation but still could not find it.

The Joker's hand that was off of her wrist found its way to the side of her face to hold her down in the perfect angle for him to try and sink deeper. Nichole held back the screams tugging in her throat.

After a few long moments, the Joker leaned back and grinned proudly. "That won't come off for at least a month." He said before he bent his head down again.

Nichole continued to stare and cringe at the ceiling as one painful mark turned into three or four that danced over her neck and upper chest.

All this while, Nichole could not help but feel herself floating in the air with his mouth still attached to her skin.

"Nothing… Is…Here…" She managed to whisper between her gasps.

Nichole didn't even move her hands as he let go of her other wrist. She just turned her head to the side and closed her eyes.

_My body accepts this while my mind is still swimming in the ocean of my soul…_

The Joker then placed his knees on either side of her as he leaned back. He licked his lips as his hands moved from resting on her clavicles, down and moved his hands over her cleavage and under the cups of her bra as he probed out her breasts. The half cups of the bra were squeezing her breasts up her chest as he let go of them.

He sat back with his hands on his knees, admiring her submissive, intoxicated state. He felt himself harden as he eyed all of his marks that danced across her skin; both from a minute ago, and the ones from the ordeal that took place earlier.

She was his and he had her.

He loved that Nichole was too drunk and messed up to do anything as he brought his shaking hands that usually yearned for the hard and gritty texture of explosives, to her soft breasts, with restrained hunger. He squeezed his rough hands harder, trying to get her to cringe and make a sound. He never knew what to expect out of her.

Nichole grunted as her lids opened and she lazily turned her eyes up to the ceiling. She was already underwater.

She moaned and arched her back slightly as his thumbs began to flick and trace her nipples simultaneously.

She groaned as she closed her eyes and turned her head to the other side. She was half asleep but floating at the surface. "You've done this before…" it felt like she was sinking in the bed. "Haven't you had enough?" She whispered as she breathed heavily.

The Joker squeezed as he pressed her breasts together in the center of her chest. He leaned over her ear, "I can't ever… have…enough…" he grinned.

Nichole's face merged underwater as she sunk to the bottom of the ocean floor.

_My body accepts this while my mind is still swimming in the ocean of my soul…_

All this time she could feel his tongue move from her neck, through the line of her cleavage. She rolled her eyes to the back of her head as she felt his one hand clamp her breast in a lock-hold as he brought his mouth over it; moving his head with his swirling tongue. His other hand moved and groped her breast in circles with suck vigor that his nails were scraping and cutting the skin along her chest.

She groaned and looked at the surface from where she laid under the water as he gobbled at her breasts. She bit her lip and closed her eyes as he bit and roughly sucked various patches on her breast.

Nichole still remained where she was, at the bottom of the ocean, hearing the thubs of the waves crashing over her at the surface. She would only groan and let out painful whimpers as he did his damage. She could still feel his layer of sweat and saliva covering her chest as the water surrounded her.

With his hands still on her breasts, he moved his mouth back to her neck. He buried his head deep into her neck as he pushed her head aside with his, so he could gain even more access to this new favorite spot of his. His bare chest was still covered with sweat as it was on top of hers. The two sides of his unbuttoned shirt, draped over her sides, seemingly enclosing her into him.

"Ugh....This really hurts." She complained in another groan. He bit down even harder and she let out a small yelp.

_Sometimes he gets pleasure from being gentle...sometimes he gets pleasure from being a beast._ Candy stated.

He continued biting and tearing and sucking at her neck for minutes.

The Joker then leaned up after giving one last bite to her, causing her to yelp. He looked down at her and said with all seriousness. "I wouldn't expect that to come off for at least a few months." He ran a finger on the red patch of skin on her neck. With her hands free she ran her own hands over the side of her neck, wincing at the touch.

He rolled off of her and landed on his back. "I couldn't help myself." He turned his head towards her and flashed a grin.

"I know..." She whispered in the voice of a terrified child.

"But hey....If you want to do the same to me..I won't stop you." He reached over and grabbed her hips. He moved her body so she would be laying on top of him. He pushed her head into his neck, chuckling in his throat.

"No...It's fine....I don't want to." She said; muffled by his neck. "You are just lucky I didn't get sick...I hope you realize that."

He released her head and placed his arm around her waist, resting it on her rear. Nichole let one arm dangle off of him on the bed; against his side. Her other hand bent and rested on his chest, with her hand resting on the other side of his neck. Her head remained by his neck facing it, but she was not being smashed into it.

She laid comfortably without protest, letting out a tired sigh. "Can we go to bed now?"

* * *

**Kait:** As a present to Sydney guys you all should please please please review so when she gets back she will have something to read! July 24th I believe is the day she returns! On that note I'm pretty fucking exicted for the next chapter. It will show off how crazy Nichole really is when she is around the Joker and alone and what not.


	47. Back To Square One

**Kait:** She's back from France....AND WE MET! WE MET! WE MET IN REAL LIFE! ME AND SYDNEY WENT TO NEW YORK AND MET AND SAW PHANTOM AND OH MY GOD!! Okay. Just read the chapter lol and we'll talk about it at the bottom! But oh my gosh it was the best weekend of my summer!

**Sydney:** Go go go! The suspense is killing us!

* * *

Birds were chirping, the sun was shining, and Nichole was waking up slowly with the worst hangover she ever experienced in her life to date.

She took in a deep breath as she finally was able to escape the fog in her mind and open her eyes. She was still in the same position as last night. She was laying on top of the Joker with her hand going across his chest, bending at the elbow, and the hand resting on the other side of his neck.

She shuffled a bit on him, trying to get comfortable, before relaxing again.

Her head was throbbing and felt as if someone was drilling holes into the sides of it, trying to extract her brain. The sunlight in the room was causing pain in her eyes, so she shut them once more.

_I hate light…_

She felt the Joker groan as he woke up as well. She felt his hand move off her backside as he rubbed his face to wake himself up. He let out a drawn out sigh as he let his hand flop back down, landing on her back again.

It took her a moment to realize his hand was starting to slide down towards the small skirt she still was wearing from last night. Tiredly, she reached one hand down and placed it over his, bringing his hand up higher towards her waist.

"Now I _really_ don't believe you when you told me you never molested me in my sleep before." She yawned.

Talking even hurt at this point.

Her throat felt dry; she desperately needed something to drink. "Especially last night....Did you have a field day when I fell asleep?"

"My my_ my_, your words hurt me. And here I thought waking up to your voice scolding me was _suppose_ to be a joy!" He said over dramatically, before laughing. "And you weren't asleep just now and I know that." He chuckled. Even his voice sounded tired.

She could feel his laugh vibrate from his bare chest, to her head laying on it. "Mmmm, I know." She said softly, feeling the urge to fall back asleep.

His hand ran idly over her back. She thought he did not even realize his hand was massaging her back, for after a few moments of doing that she could hear his head shuffle to look down at her and his hand immediately stopped rubbing her gently. He then took his fingers and slide them over the back of her bra. He pulled up on it and released it to snap on her back, but not enough that would actually hurt her.

"Hey!" She rubbed the red spot her bra now made on her back. "What was that for?"

She felt him shrug. "Just checking to see if you're still awake sleeping beauty." He joked, peering down at the circles under her eyes and the smeared makeup all over her face and body. "You're letting yourself go." He chuckled.

"Oh no. Not that." She mumbled sarcastically, too tired to say anything more.

After a few minutes of silence, except for hearing each other's breathing, the Joker tapped his hand on her waist a few times. "Babe, we gotta get up and start the day." He shuffled under her. "I know you like it when you are on top but you have to get off of me now."

_He speaks as if we're a twenty year married couple heading out to do our normal daily lives._ She joked to Candy, trying to keep her mind away from the headache.

"I'm too tired too." She mumbled, ignoring his sexual comment. "I have a fucking hangover from last night." She complained, stating the obvious to him without caring. "And it is by far the worst hangover I have ever experienced. I can't get up even if I wanted to." She grumbled into his chest, not realizing a small puddle of drool had formed by her mouth, on his bare skin.

"Well maybe you uh, shouldn't have had so much to drink-_kah_." He teased, tugging on a lock of her hair.

"If I hadn't, you would have thrown me out on the street for fucking up your favor." She clenched her hands into fists and winced; talking was beginning to strain on her head again. "I did what you wanted, so just be happy and let me sleep. I'm paying my price for your definition of perfection."

He mumbled something to himself and licked his lips.

Nichole tilted her head upwards towards him, not lifting her head off his chest. He was staring down at her, causing his neck to vanish and his chin take up all the space. There was no emotion on his face; just a blank stare.

He remained like that for a few moments, before tightening his hold on her waist and sliding out from underneath her. He stood up leaving her on the bed. He straightened out and buckled his belt; that was still unbuckled from last night. He buttoned up his shirt and bent down to retrieve his vest. He placed the vest on him, but did not button it up. Then he walked towards the door. With his hand on the handle, he turned his head towards Nichole.

"Stay here." He told her with humor in his voice. He knew that she, in her condition, would not be moving off the bed anytime soon.

She groaned a response to him.

For ten minutes Nichole laid alone in the bed with Candy chatting up a storm and taunting Nichole's sickly state.

_What did you expect? You drank hard liquor! _She teased.

"Yeah well at least we're even now." She mumbled aloud to Candy, referring to the deal between her and the Joker.

The next thing she heard was the Joker returning up the steps and within a matter of seconds his door was open and he walked in the room, carrying two plates. She could tell Jasper had made whatever food was on the plates. She distinctly remembered the one time the Joker made food he burned it, and the food on the plate was clearly too normal looking for something made by him.

The thought of eating caused her to perk up. She was hungry and her mouth felt parched.

She remained on her stomach before she shifted her legs very slowly to the side until they slid off the bed. She slowly let her body follow her legs until she was seated on the ground with her back against the side of the bed. The whole motion caused her to have the sudden urge to vomit, but she held it at bay. Her head was pressed back against the side of the bed and a moment of blackness covered her eyes as she had gotten up too quickly for her body's liking.

She felt a slight nudge to her side and as the darkness faded from her eyes she was able to see the Joker had kicked her in the leg as the look on her face had rose suspicion to him. He didn't want to deal with another 'crazy moment' with her right now.

"Hello in there? Earth to Nichole?" He nudged her leg once more.

"Sorry." She mumbled, rubbing her face in her hands. She slowly brought up her knees and rested her elbows on them. She could feel the blood pumping in her brain.

_As soon as he leaves...I am going to throw up. I know it. Candy...help me hold it in._ She groaned in her mind, knowing she was going to get sick.

Before she even realized it, the Joker was seated next to her on the ground with his back against the side of the bed as well.

Her face must have read the emotion because in the next moment as he looked at her, he spoke, "If you are going to be sick, let me know uh...now. I'm all out of spare suits my dear and I don't want to get this one wrecked_-tah_."

"No...I'm fine. I'll be fine." She tried to assure him with her eyes closed. "I just need food in my system."

He passed her one plate as she laid her legs out in front of her before placing the plate on her lap. She picked the food up in small bits and ate. She tried to focus on the taste of the food and not the fact she knew everything she was eating at this moment was going to not be in her stomach in a few minutes. They both ate in silence. The Joker finished first, like always, and threw his plate across the room before hitting the wall and smashing into little pieces.

"Time to go work." He grinned, acting as if what he did was a 'job'. "I'd give a kiss goodbye, but I don't want to get a little surprise coming out of your little mouth." He took one hand and placed it under her chin, shaking her head back and forth a little.

_Oh shit…_

This movement did not help her at all, and he must have realized it too once he let go of her face. "Bathroom. That way." He pointed immediately towards his bathroom door.

Nichole bolted up and ran to the bathroom, kicking the door shut and barely making it to the toilet to empty her stomach.

_Yay...._

The Joker came to the threshold for a moment, peaking his head through the slightly closed door. She looked up from the toilet bowl for a moment with her mouth hanging open in pure rejection for the taste in her mouth.

"Close call." He stiffed a laugh. "Guess it be the wrong time to ask for an encore of last night eh?" He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

Instead of responding to him in words, she threw up again into the toliet bowl.

"I'll take that as a no." And with that the Joker gave a small amused grin left the bathroom. She heard him leave his room as well.

She stood up slowly and washed her mouth out with the sink's water She then brushed her teeth like never before in order to get rid of the taste in her mouth. She finally returned to his bed and flopped down like a rag doll. In a complete daze she remained on the bed, dozing in and out of slumber. Once or twice she got up to throw up or drink some of the tap water, but other than that she remained on the bed. She knew she had a fever and the sweat from her body caused the sheet beneath her to soak with her perspiration.

When it felt as if it was afternoon, she was awoken by a small tap on her shoulder. She opened her lazy eyes and turned her head towards the right to see Jasper. He was sitting on the edge of the bed.

"You, my chicka, are what I call a complete mess." He whispered to her giving a small smile. "How ya doing?"

"Better...a little. I can feel my body starting to return to normal." She mumbled.

Jasper began to rub Nichole's back softly, but retracted his hand upon seeing she was still in the lingerie from last night. "Oh...heh...about that…"

"I'll kill you later." She mumbled to him, giving a small laugh.

"I thought you found it before he came back and threw it away. I didn't know you didn't look in the bag fully and didn't find it. He found it? Well....then... uh." He rubbed the back of his neck in guilt. "At least he liked it-"

"Oh he loved it." She rolled her eyes. "He told me he wants to increase your pay. Apparently you know what turns him on more than me when it comes to outfits. He told me he wants you to be my tailor too."

"Really?!"

"No." She laughed.

"Que lastima! It would have been fun. Well I actually came up here for a reason, which by the way I am risking my neck and tail to be in the room right now. If he stops in he'll kick me out...literally. But anyway, I am sorry to inform you I have to be gone for a few days. But I'll be back New Years Eve, which is in four days, if you count today! Party that day! I hope Mr. J won't be around that day so you can chill with me."

"Yeah I hope too. But...I can't think of alcohol right now. If I do I will puke again."

"Heh...I'm sorry. Well I gotta get going; my boys are here to pick me up. So will you be okay for the four days without me and just with him?"

"Yeah. Now I'll be fine with him." She said, wincing at her headache.

"Good. Well, see ya later!" He patted her back, giving a small kiss to her forehead. She fell asleep before he even got to the door and exited the room though. She was going to sleep off this hangover.

Hours and hours later, Nichole awoke feeling much better. Her stomach was still a bit off, but she fine for the most part. She got up and realized she was extremely hungry. Nichole took a very quick shower and changed into more...appropriate clothing before she walked out of his room and down the two flights of stairs, not caring if she ran into him or one of his goons at this point.

But to her surprise, there was no one around.

No lights were even on and she had to spend a good amount of time trying to locate the damn light to the kitchen area. Once she found it, she made herself a simple sandwich and ate at the table by herself.

Candy was chatting with her the entire time idly about hangovers and their effects at the moment. Nichole was kind of droning out whatever Candy was saying, but saying or mumbling a 'yes' every so often to pretend to be listening; though Candy could tell.

After she was done eating, Nichole sat staring at her empty food dish and something hit her.

It was very quiet.

She became rather curious as to why there was literally no one and no sounds at all in the warehouse. It was dark out and normally there would be some form of life in the building; even a simple distant mumur of chatter or televisions on. She walked up the stairs to the second floor and peered down the hallway trying to see if any form of life was on it.

There she noticed a small sliver of light coming from a doorway a little ways down the hallway. Sounds were coming from that room. A television was what seemed to be on, and whoever was watching it was....moaning.

_Wait...I know that moan. _Nichole gasped internally to Candy, hearing a small clip of whatever was on the television.

She walked down the hallway till she was at the doorway. It was cracked open slightly, so she peered in.

The room was dimly lit and had a single chair in front of a TV set. And on that chair was the Joker, hunched over and panting. Nichole didn't need another hint from the up and down motions his arm was making to know what he was doing.

But that wasn't the worst part.

On the television he was watching, was her. It was a hidden camera he had placed in his bathroom. The clip he was watching was of the night Nichole had lost it and cut away at herself and rolled in her own blood. The current part he was watching was of her drawing with her own blood on the walls and laughing manically.

He let one hand grip the edge of his chair as he began to break into a sick laughter, not stopping the motion of his arm.

This was turning him on in a sick and twisted way.

_No… FUCKING way!_

Without thinking, Nichole slammed the door open and burst into the room; face red, teeth bared, and fists shaking. "YOU PSYCHO! YOU FUCKING UGLY TWISTED MANIAC! HOW SICK ARE YOU, YOU DISGUSTING VERMIN! HOW MESSED THE FUCK UP DO YOU HAVE TO BE TO GET TURNED ON BY **THIS**?!" She screamed so loud that even the lights flickered a little.

The Joker jumped in his seat, clearly not expecting her to enter the room. He stood up and quickly zipped up his pants and started to buckle his belt as he said, "Well looks like _someone_ is feeling better." He growled, obviously frustrated that Nichole burst in on the middle of his "fun."

"You are so fucked up! What the HELL are you doing? You set up a camera? You sick perverted freak!" She raged, walking over to his now empty chair and threw it at him in anger.

He managed to duck, barely avoiding the wooden heap of furniture, and glared at her as it crashed into the wall. "You think you have room to talk?" He said through his teeth, taking a step over to her. "You think that _I_ am messed up?" he gave a laugh of disbelief and dramatically put his hand on his chest when he said 'I.' "Look what you did to yourself when I was gone. You lied to me yesterday on how you received them, and even when I got the real answer I didn't think it would be to this-" He pointed at the television which was now showing her rolling around in her blood, "-extent!" He yelled, grabbing her by the wrist as she attempted to punch him and then pointed out the bite mark she inflicted on herself. "You are sick, brutal and tormented!"

"Shut the hell up! It's your fault!" She wiggled her hand loose of his grip.

"It's MY fault that you did that? I don't see me with a gun to your head telling you to do that." His hand was visibly aching to reach into his pocket.

"Whatever! I don't care WHAT'S DONE IS DONE!" She screamed. "It sure as hell was better than being around you!" She was panting as she seethed, "But YOU… YOU HID A CAMERA TO SPY ON ME?!"

On that note, the Joker, out of rage, took another step and dug his fingers in her shoulders as he slammed her harshly to the ground. His hand went into his pocket, and pulled out a knife. "The only reason I set up a camera was for exactly what happened. I knew you were starting to get to that point in your life. I knew leaving you alone would cause something like that to happen. So I wanted to have a camera there, so if I came into my room and you were dead, I'd be able to watch it with my own eyes. I like to know what kills a person." He growled in his throat. The piercing glare he was sending her as he towered over her was like fire raining down on her.

Instead of what she thought he was going to do, the Joker actually threw the knife by Nichole's feet.

They locked eyes for a moment before he spoke out very slowly. Each word was breathed out of his sneer. "Cut yourself. Cut yourself right now. Show me. I want to see it with my own eyes and not on a video tape."

It took a little for her to register what he had just said, through her own anger.

"You get pleasure from fucking sick shit." She whispered, infuriated. "You know that?" She stood up so his towering figure was less dominating to her.

He bent down and grabbed the knife. He then reached out and forcefully grabbed her hand, placing the knife in it. "Don't make me say it again. I want to **see **it. I want to see what gives **you** joy from cutting yourself. I just thought it was all quite funny to see you bare and naked playing in your own blood. It's not something you see every day. But I want to see what brings you joy from it. Do it. Do it now. I want to see."

She stared at the knife in her hand as his voice continued to coarse her. "You know you want to do it. I can see it in your eyes. You are starting to be as fond of sharp objects as I am. You know you want to create some beautiful scars on yourself. Do it!"

"FINE." She yelled out of anger, just to get him to stop talking.

She took the knife and brought it close to her arm; just below her wrist. She looked up at him once more. She honestly could not read what emotion he was displaying or feeling. It was a mix of anger and slight amusement. But honestly she could not tell.

Nichole started to apply pressure on the knife resting on her skin. No skin was broken yet, but it was so close. Her anger started to fade as the knife dug deeper and deeper into her skin. Any deeper, blood would start to flow out of her veins.

But she couldn't go any further.

"Come on. Don't wimp out on me. You know you want to do more. Deeper." The Joker chimed, seeing she wasn't breaking skin yet and had frozen in her spot.

Each word he spoke was like a blow to the gut.

The blade's stainless steel reflected a blurred image of herself on it. It took her a moment to realize tears were flowing steadily out of her eyes at the moment.

_You know you want to. _The blade chimed, in the Joker's voice. Her wrist started to ache for blood to pour out of it. For the small amount of pain and then bliss of a razor digging into it.

Part of her yearned to do it just to shove it in his face, but the other half wanted to do it later when she was by herself. Either way, she was going to.

But not now.

She made up her mind.

She lowered the knife away from her skin. "I-...I can't do it. I can't right now." She mumbled softly.

Without a word passed between them for a few moments, the Joker then swiftly ripped the knife from her hand. He then forcefully back handed her, causing her to fall backwards and hit the floor in agony. She screamed out a curse at him as she brought her hands to the side of her face. Her legs twitched from her pain.

"You think you're so clever don't you?" He hissed. "You mocked me by taking advantage of the fact I found it so pleasing to see you draw your own blood and hurt yourself," he spoke through his clenched teeth, "and yet you know that I am the one that wants to kill you and no one else. Even if that someone else was you and you were on the verge of it. I am the only one allowed to mess with people's minds, but you seem to be picking up the tricks of the trade fairly quickly."

He paused, to watch her groan out in pain from his hard slap.

"You know what? Kill yourself. Go ahead. See if I care." He threw the knife back down by her, narrowly missing her head. "Knock yourself out." He said sarcastically as he walked by her and left the room. She was able to hear him walk down the hallway and up the stairs to his own room.

Nichole sat up, rubbing at her face.

_He is bipolar Candy. He has to be._ She screamed in her mind. _One minute he thinks it's a turn on that I was cutting myself and acting all crazy and the next it offends him and he wants me to stop! And now he's using some kind of reverse psychology on me by leaving me with the knife! He is fucking crazy! I thought I could read his moods, but even now when I don't have my fear of him clouding my thoughts....I still can't understand him._

_And he can't understand you Nichole. _Candy replied. _You both are more in common than you think. _

_Lies. We only have in common the fact society hates us, we both are insane, and have some sort of scar on our faces.._ Nichole stiffed a laugh out loud.

_More specifically though...You hate society and he does as well. You're moods now change as fast and as often as him. You both have a thirst for blood. You for your own, and his for others. Both of your minds are fucked the hell up! _Candy screamed._ But Nichole I am making this vow right now, if you ever try to cut yourself I will stop you. No matter what. With every fiber in our very being....I will stop you. Even if it takes all my strength causing me to become so weak...I will stop you. You are not to do that anymore. Nichole you are more insane than the Joker in retro spec. You honestly are in my eyes._

_No I am not! _Nichole protested.

_Yes you ARE! Nichole....last night the 'shadows' were talking to you. And just a few moments ago his knife was talking to you, and you don't so much as raise an eyebrow or are terrified of that fact. You shrug and accept it as if its normal! That's crazy! _Candy complained.

_That's because, now a days if something as simple as a plant started talking to me, it wouldn't shock me. _Nichole sighed. _Candy you are talking to me right now and you aren't even real. So if inanimate objects decide to talk to me, I really don't think its odd now a days._

Candy let out a snort.

Nichole glanced up at the television which as still playing but it was now showing Nichole being forced by Candy to take a shower to rid herself of all the blood.

But then something else caught her eye… The numbers of the days, hours, minutes, and seconds on the VCR box where longer than three days.

_He has something else on here. _She gulped.

She walked over to the TV and found the rewind button. She pressed it and began to rewind the tape. The tape had static lines running across it as she watched in a fast pace, herself doing everything backwards. She sat down away from the television waiting for it to rewind completely. At this moment, she sort of fell asleep for a few minutes or rather spaced out. She really couldn't tell which one, but she did know that when she glanced back at the TV, there was something on the screen that literally made her jaw drop.

She raced up and pressed the play button.

The Joker had used an old tape to record the incident she went crazy on. Part of the old tape was at the beginning of it, not fully erased.

And how she wished it had been, for she did not want to see this at all, but it was like a train wreck. She couldn't look away.

There on the screen was the Joker, directing the video to Tom. Saying for him to not come after Nichole and that the following was something that may help him in his debate on whether he should attempt to save her or not.

"What is this..." She mumbled in disbelief.

The screen flashed over to her and the Joker sitting on a couch. She recognized that night, the dialog being said. Then the horrors that was to follow.

There she sat.

In only words:

Confused. Awestruck. Disturbed. Horrified. Humiliated. Revolted.

She watched it all unfold before her very eyes. She saw herself being raped by the Joker. That second time he had attacked her. The painful memories flooded her mind. The PAIN flooded her body. On the screen, she watched herself crawling out of view of the camera in a desperate attempt to free herself of the Joker. She then saw him chase after her and off screen, her screams of pain were heard.

It suddenly hit her hard.

"He gave this to Tom...." She whispered. "He...GAVE this...to him."

The color drained from her face as tears of rage covered it.

Her head was spinning out of control. At that moment, she felt herself falling backwards to the floor and shaking erratically.

"No no no no...how could he do that? HOW COULD HE DO THAT?!?!" She screamed out. She clawed at the ground as she shook. Her heart had just been ripped from her body and beaten to its' last soft beat.

She pictured Tom watching her being violently and horrifically raped by the Joker. How his mind must have snapped at that moment and his own heart torn in two.

Nichole sat up letting out a scream of rage. In that moment the right light hit the knife the Joker had left in the room. She eyed it with sudden desperation as an idea hatched into her twisted head.

A new wave of control washed over and flooded Nichole.

It wasn't Candy.

_Nichole...what are you doing? _Candy gasped.

Something was scratching its way out.

_Nichole..._

_NICHOLE STOP!_

_NICHOLE DON'T!_

_GET BACK HERE! DON'T GO ANY FURTHER! NOOO! NOOOOOO! _

A side Nichole never knew she had. It was simply a woman with a wicked sneer and a discarded knife the Joker left behind in her right hand.

The woman reached the stairwell and walked slowly up to the third floor, where her target of choice resided. Sleeping targets were the easiest, but normally considered to be targets that held no honor in killing. Honor was not what this woman was seeking. Blood was what she wanted. The blood of the latest 'director' of videos. She wanted to personally 'thank' him for making that video for a man that she can no longer put a face to.

As she saw the door leading to the room he was sleeping in, she smiled maliciously. She crept to the door and opened it softly.

The hunter spotted her target and her heart leapt with joy seeing and hearing his slumbering state. She went to his bedside peering down at his relaxed sleeping face. His blanket was fixed on top of him, and his hands resting by his sides.

It would be just too easy. There had to be a catch. But the hunter smiled and clicked open the knife. She held it high in the air above his figure.

.It felt so right to be in this position. Her reasons for killing him now, had nothing to do with Nichole or Candy. It was a hunter who wanted to use her tricks of the trade. It was pure chaos and madness inside a single person, shining out.

Just as she was about to plunge the knife into his chest, his eyes opened calmly.

He had been awake. "So you seriously wanna kill me?"

"You finally realized?"

The Joker managed to roll most of himself out of the way, but the side of the knife barely nicked the side of his hip. The knife then became stuck in the mattress, so Nichole left it there as she jumped onto the bed and got on top of the Joker, who was laying on his stomach.

She wrapped one arm under his neck, and attempted to strangle him. She pulled upwards on his neck as she heard him beginning to choke. It was a sound she smiled at and wanted to hear more of.

The Joker tried to claw her arm off his neck, but the angle she was at prevented him from getting a good hold on her and the long sleeves of her shirt muffled his nails trying to dig in her skin. He then started to roll his body to the right until they both fell off the bed, with Nichole still attached to him by his neck.

They landed so Nichole hit the ground hard on her back, with the Joker's body smashing her painfully into the ground. In her pain, her grip on his neck only tightened and she wrapped her legs around his waist to get a better hold of him.

"I'm going to fucking kill you for what you sent to Tom!" The Joker's face was starting to turn blue under his makeup.

Nichole laughed and constricted her arm tighter. "I bet you never saw this coming… I bet you never thought that the tables would be turned!" she cackled. "Instead of you getting the pleasure from killing me, **I** get the euphoria of killing you." She grinned, "Now you know what it's like to be controlled by the strange of the neck now, dontcha, baby?"

The Joker then struggled a few times before being able to reach into one of his coat pockets, pulling out a knife. He brought his knife down on her arm and cut a straight line, with shaking hands, that tore through her sleeve. Her arm loosened its hold as she let out a grunt of pain.

With that, he was able to roll out of her grip and stood up. Nichole quickly sat up and sent a bloody fist to his eye.

He let out a growl of anger as he quickly grabbed her arm and made deft cuts all over it with the tip of the blade.

"Oh do you like this?" He laughed manically as she tried to yank her arm out of his grip. "You do like this right? Of course you do!"

She groaned and brought her other hand up to claw at his face. Her sharp nails left bad cuts down his cheek. He was taken aback and dropped his knife and his hold on her other arm. She felt his skin and makeup cling underneath her fingernails and looked up to see blood running down his right cheek a little above his scar.

Her other arm was stinging in pain and she felt all her own blood running down it onto her clothes.

Before she could react, Nichole felt the side of her face in the Joker's hand and then saw the floor fly up to her face.

Darkness took over her vision for a moment, before she attempted to sit up once more.

"So THIS is how it is huh?" He growled. As he stood up and sent a kick to her gut to paralyze her for another moment.

As she choked for air, he went to his desk and shuffled through a drawer. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and walked over to her. He grabbed her by her hair and tugged on it with no mercy as he dragged her out of the room.

She then began to scream out obscurities at him. "YOU FUCKER! I want to see it! I want to see your blood! Don't stop me! Don't stop me! Let me go!"

He began to drag her down the flights of stairs and she had to attempt to cling herself to his side to cut the pain back a bit.

"You have reached rock bottom Nichole....or whatever you are at the moment. Crazy Nichole. That's what you are." He yelled at her through his teeth.

They were now on the first floor and he dragged her down a hallway towards a room in the back. He opened the door and flicked on the light switch.

The room was filled with an assortment of pipes and boiler type machines. Brown rusted machinery and the smell of rotting water filled her nostrils. Water was leaking and dropping to the floor, causing her bare feet to slip as she tried to gain some footing as he continued to drag her into the room.

He stopped by the back of one of the side walls. He gripped the handcuffs in one hand and placed it around one of her wrists. He then wrapped the loose end around a pipe that ran across the top of the wall, and then handcuffed her other hand. He let go of her hair and let her dangle down from the pipe. Her feet were inches from the floor, but did not touch. The metal from the handcuffs being around the pipe, prevented her from it. Even with her arms extended all the way down, she barely reached it.

The Joker, who still was obviously in a lot of anger, was breathing very heavily. He looked over her tied up state, and then sent a deadly punch to her stomach to release his anger.

Nichole couldn't breathe. Her lungs collapsed as she wheezed and choked; trying to suck back the air he knocked out of her.

She returned to her battered and twisted body, taking as much breath as her body would allow.

The Joker hunched his shoulders forward as he walked towards the exit of the room. He then turned around at the last moment and eyed her from the threshold.

"There are a lot of things that I could do at this very moment....but I think I'm going to listen to my head and go to sleep." He flicked off the light switch. "Have a nice night." He said sarcastically, laughing as he slammed the door shut.

Pitch black darkness surrounded Nichole.

It took her a moment to flash the images of what had just happened to her in her mind. She wasn't dreaming.

She started to panic.

"Candy?!"

Silence. The silence is what then invoked the violent screaming.

Nichole thrashed her body back and forth trying to break free of the handcuffs. Her foot hit a box and she tried to use both her feet to push the box closer to her. Once it was under her she kneeled on it, taking the painful pressure off her wrists.

"Candy! Answer me!" Nichole screamed aloud.

There was no answer. No back talk. No scolding. No snotty humor. Nothing.

"CANDY!?" She let out a shrilling scream, "CANDY WHERE ARE YOU?!" Nichole cried.

She seemingly had vanished from her mind; nowhere to be found.

_By this point Candy would have said something. I know she would have! She's gone! Oh Candy where are you? Come back! I need you! I need someone to talk too! I can't be alone! I can't!_ Nichole began to tear up.

The darkness filled her eyes. Shadows were looming in as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness. The once tender and caring shadows that embraced her actions of last night were surrounding her menacingly. They swirled and twisted around her and made shrieks of anger and pain.

_You are alone. We will kill you. We will devour you. _They told her.

At first their yells were faint, but grew louder and scarier as the moments passed. Nichole hid her head into the side of her arm.

"Stop! STOP YELLING AT ME! LEAVE ME ALONE!" She screamed to the shadows.

_You are alone. _

"AHHH!!!!! AHHHH!" Nichole screamed and screamed. She twisted her body viciously. She was in such a state of panic that she didn't feel the skin on her wrists rubbing off from the metal.

Candy! Help me!"

_You are weak._

"JOKER! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Help me! Come back down! PLEASE! DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE!!"

_You are a disgrace. _

"Don't leave me with these things!"

_You can't even stay sane anymore. We feed off those who are alone. We feed off those who have no one._

Nichole screamed and thrashed harder. The metal clanged against the pipes.

_Candy has abandoned you. The Joker has left you alone with us. He surely hears you right now screaming and yet he will not come and save you. You are alone. No one cares about a crazy hallucinating girl._

_But so long as you are alone, so long as you are here alone and cold in the darkness we reside in.....you will have to deal with us. How much can you take crazy one? How much?_

The shadows began to crawl around her arms and body. She felt the prickles of their teeth and claws. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she began to twitch in pain.

_You can only take so much. _The shadows laughed. _You created the shadows. You live in them. They will always be here waiting to come out._

The voices of the shadows, Nichole was able to figure out now, belonged to everyone she ever met that has died. Synchronized.

Though Tom's was the most vivid....Nichole was slowly starting to forget what he looked like.

His image was blurred.

Her mind would fall apart whenever she was alone.

And now being truly alone...with no Candy around....She became an absolute lunatic.

Now more than ever she wanted the Joker within her line of sight or the voice of Candy speaking to her.

Being alone was now something that would cause her harm.

Intense harm.

_I have to distract myself....find a happy place! _Nichole told herself.

_Gordon!_ The time when she saw Gordon with Jasper. She closed her eyes as she dove into that memory.

_Soon you will forget them_ the shadows slurred, _Just like you forgot me.._

"NO!" she screamed, "Come back!"

But the image of Gordon faded.

She had to get out of here. She searched her mind for a time when she was happy, but the only event sticking out in her mind was the previous time her and the Joker had had sex. Though in the shower, it was not her happy place...once they were in bed...it was.

That night she had received pleasure and was so joyful.

It was something she would willingly admit now....that she would do anything to have that feeling again.

At this moment she wished she could just go upstairs and be in the Joker's arms, and not tied to a pole being taunted by her own mind.

Her body was drenched in sweat at this point. She closed her eyes as she whimpered and cried.

"Please please please! I would rather be in your arms than down here PLEASE! GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

She wanted to feel the warmth of his breath on her now cold and pained skin. She wanted to feel as if she had a purpose in life other than bringing everyone around her down to the depths of her own darkness.

He was the answer to her problems in her mind.

Her twisted...

insane....

scared

...mind.

* * *

Morning hit and Nichole had not slept the entire night. She sat on the box the whole time, being torchered by the shadows created and intertwined by her own mind.

Her mind is her worst enemy.

A sound took the shadows away from her focus.

_Footsteps!_

The shadows began to fade as the small sliver of light appeared at the bottom of the door. The hallway light was on. She heard the Joker's footsteps by the door....

...and then he kept walking.

The shadows almost beaome silent as he neared the door, but picked up in volume slowly as he grew distant again.

"No...please.." She cried, "Come back! COME BACK! I'M BEGGING YOU!!" She was unsure how loud she spoke it since she could not hear her own voice over the shadows.

It was at that moment, with her focus away from the shadows for a moment, she realized that she had a disruption in her lower stomach. She had to use the bathroom and she had to use it now! She crossed her legs and sat uncomfortably on the box.

"JOKER!" She screamed out again.

She heard no answer, but the laughters of the shadows.

After fifteen minutes, the footsteps were heard again and she perked her head up. Suddenly the door opened and the light flicked on.

Nichole cringed and tried to cover her eyes with her forearms in front of her.

"Still can't stand the sight of me, Nikki?" it teased.

After her eyes adjusted to the light, she looked up. In his hand was a small key to the handcuffs. He walked slowly towards her and swung the key back and forth in his fingers flaunting it to her.

"Sooo have you learned your lesson?" He chimed as he reached her and stood close by her; shoving the key right smack in her face to truly mess with her.

Nichole choked on the cries tugging at her throat, "…Yes. Yes yes yes yes." Her broke into a sob at the last 'yes.' "Please… take me out of here and I promise.. I-I will be good."

He bit his lip and looked at the ceiling in thought, then suddenly shook his head back and forth. "Nope! Doesn't sound sincere enough!" He laughed at her torn face. "I'll give you a few more hours to think about it." He smiled.

Her fear and sadness turned into rage and desperation. "NO!"She screamed in her tears, "Fucker!" She brought her knee up and hit him in the groin. "I need to pee!" She screamed and pleaded trying to give him a reason to let her out.

He groaned and bent over at her hit and backed away from her. "That's lovely. I don't care." He walked over to the door.

He then turned around and grinned, "Say… what do you think of the idea of Gordon searching this house to find an ugly smelly corpse here?"

Nichole's face drained. _He will leave me to die with the shadows!_

He shrugged and flicked off the lights "I take it that you like the sound of that! He-he HA! HA! HA!" He cackled as he slammed the door shut, to scare her.

For the next few hours, Nichole continued to groan out squeezing her legs together trying to hold in her urge to use the bathroom. She knew just going on herself would cause the Joker to laugh and possibly leave her alone in the room for longer. She tried too to ignore the shadows, but her attempt was in vain. Voices clouded her mind.

Her head lifted when the black behind her closed eye lids, turn red, indicating that the light was turned on.

He stopped as he neared her and placed a hand over his groin area protectively. "Normally I'm all for it but I don't want your knee hitting me again...is that understood?"

She nodded weakly.

He eyed her up and down in disgust. He could smell the stench of her sweat from where he stood. The entire sleeve of her one arm was dark brown from the cuts on her arm he inflicted. Her eyes had deep circles under them and her face was a mess from the tears and mucus.

"Time out is over." He reached up and unlocked the handcuffs. Nichole fell over on the box with a groan. He took them and as he walked to the doorway he placed them in his pocket. He turned his head to see Nichole running towards him.

He spun his whole body in her direction, thinking she is going to attack him. He started to reach into his other pocket to pull out his knife, until she ran by him, out the door, down the hall, and towards the stairs. He rolled his eyes.

Nichole was running to the bathroom like a wild rabbit. She didn't care if the Joker wanted her to apologize to him down there or follow him somewhere; she needed to go!

When she reached his room, she threw open his door and went to his bathroom to relieve herself.

She felt disgusting and she could feel the fifth of her body and the shadows. She decided to take a shower; feeling sweaty and gross from her night in lock down.

She tore off her clothes, wincing when the cuts on her arm had began to bleed again as she peeled her shirt off.

Stepping into the shower, Nichole pulled the shower curtain to hold in the steam of the warm water she turned on, and scrubbed her body raw.

Just as she was reaching scrubbing in the shampoo in her hair, she heard the bathroom door open. She could see through the white shower curtain the Joker's outline standing by the sink. He was leaning against it staring at her direction, but he too could only see a blurry outline. She could tell that his jacket was off.

She began to rinse her hair, choosing to ignore him.

"Last night, I could barely sleep with all your screaming and pounding on the walls Nichole." The Joker said out of the blue casually.

Nichole pressed her hands against the tiles as she bowed her head fully under the shower head. The cuts on her arm had stopped bleeding by this point and she closed her eyes.

She heard him make a noise that gave the impression he was getting angry she was not saying anything to him.

"I'm sorry," she said under her fountain of isolation with her eyes still closed. "But I'm pretty sure _**I**_ had a hard time falling asleep as well.."

"Sorry." He repeated what she had said in her tone of voice. "You think sorry is going to cut it? Do you think sorry is going to make everything better?"

"What do you want me to say?" her closed eyes murmured.

The next thing that happened was so sudden that Nichole barely had time to react.

She heard a snap, and jumped, letting out a scream as the curtain was thrown open.

Before she could make another movement from her adrenaline rush, hard, steel, leather gloves clamped on her left upper arm. She let out another scream as she violently tried to jerk her arm out of his grip, but then he took hold of her by her upper arms and yanked her out of the shower. She ended up on the ground falling on her back. The Joker stood over her, with his feet spread a part; one foot on each side of her hips. He was bending his waist and up, downward towards her and his hands held dug into each of her wrists as she thrashed defensively at him. His front was soaking wet from when he yanked her out.

Her legs tried to kick up at his groin (which would have perfect aim) but as usual, he was one step ahead of her. He maneuvered his right foot in between her thighs causing him to dodge her kick. He then kicked her left leg open, holding them open by placing his foot almost a painful yard from his other. And then he slammed his other foot down on her thigh, putting almost all of his body weight on the strong bone of her femur.

"DO THAT AGAIN AND I WILL BREAK YOUR FUCKING LEG!" He shouted in her face, sending saliva on her cheek.

Nichole stopped struggling as she dug her teeth into her lip, whimpering in pain and fear.

Her breath caught in her throat upon hearing him swear.

The only time she had heard him use a curse word, he had excused himself as he spoke it. But this time he said it with such anger and force, the hairs on the back of her neck stood.

He was raging.

With her legs apart she couldn't move them.

"Do you think before you act?!" Nichole screamed in automatic fear.

He eased his foot off of her thigh, keeping it placed right by it as he crouched down and over her. Her eyes went wide. She had never seen him look this way before. His became holes, his yellow teethed were bared, and his jaw was shaking from containing so much rage.

He looked absolutely terrifying. Now he LOOKED like a true monster.

"Do you think you are going to get off that easily Nichole?" He yelled as he shook her wrists.

Tears of pure horror filled Nichole's eyes now. She could literally feel her bones crushing in his grip. Her wrists were starting to feel numb as his fingers dug and dug.

"Do you think that last night is all disappearing because you said you are sorry?! Sorry is a word. Words don't fix actions. Actions fix actions. And even your actions aren't fixing it! I expected, that as soon as I entered your little time out area, that you would be a little nicer. Attacking me isn't what I had in mind. And then when I let you go, I expected you to beg and plead with me to forgive you, but what do you do instead? Ignore and run right by me to carry out your own needs!"

Her stupid courage came back to her."YOU LOCKED ME AWAY FOR AN ENTIRE NIGHT!" She thrashed. "I needed you! And yeah I tried to kill you and the only thing that I regret about that is that I didn't succeed in doing so!" Nichole screamed and panted. "I rewound that tape and saw what you sent Tom you rutting bastard!" She sneered.

He threw his head back in sick laughter. "So that's what set you off?!" He burst into hysterics "That's old news. Months old news! and You are lucky I didn't beat you with my belt for trying to kill me. I think I was pretty lenient on you! And this is the thanks I get? And did I ever hear an apology? No I did not." The Joker growled.

"I'm not going to give one to you!" Nichole tried to free her wrists once more, but the Joker shuffled his hands tighter around them.

"And don't think for one second that I have forgotten about what happened before you tried to kill me. I am still mad about your little cutting issue!" He pulled her upper body slightly up by her wrists; they were completely numb by this point.

"You just don't like it that I am spilling my own blood when you want to!" Nichole spat in his face.

He threw her down by her wrists in anger, causing her head to bang on the floor once more.

"You really don't know anything. You are so ignorant and crazy! And right now you crossed the line. You crossed it the moment I watched that tape. Well maybe...the moment I felt those cuts on your legs two nights ago. You crossed it then and now you erased the path you made over the line. You can't find your way back now. You are in too deep."

"I don't understand you!" she said, leaning up on her forearms. You hate it if I do it and yet it gives you pleasure to watch it on tape!" She screamed in anger. "_Fucking_ hypocrite." She spat.

"You will never understand me." He said darkly.

"I can see that for-"

Her sentence caught in her throat as he straightened his back, bent his knees, and towered over her, pointing a single finger close to her face. She leaned her upper body back down on the wet bathroom floor in fear; she did not want him touching her. "I don't want to hear another sound leave your mouth until I say you are allowed to speak again. I don't want to see another cut appear on your arms or legs that I don't know what the cause was of. I don't even want to see your little prying eyes within ten feet of me, until I say you can be near me. Is that understood?"

"Why the hell-" She began.

The Joker leaned down and back handed her without hesitation. "IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?"

She brought a hand to her face as her cheek began to tingle in pain. She let the tears escape her eyes are she warily nodded..

"I need time away from you and your little issues." A sneer formed on his mouth as he retracted his hand and fixed his glove.

He moved his feet from between her legs, turned around, and turned off the running shower water.

With that the Joker side stepped over her as if she was a piece of trash left on the ground and then exited the bathroom. She sat herself up and watched him go to his bed, take off his shoes, and lay down on it. He laid there, not making a single sound as he put his blanket over him and rolled to his side.

"Get out of my room." He said.

Each word, hit Nichole like a blow to the gut. Each word stabbed at her. Her face felt hot and light.

Now more than ever she wanted to go over to him and apologize, just so she could lay with him and not have to be alone all night downstairs, where she knew the shadows would taunt her all night. She stared at him in silence for another moment, hoping by some chance he would let her stay, but she knew it would not come.

Nichole quickly grabbed a towel, which she wrapped around herself. She left the bathroom, and quickly snatched her brown bag of clothing off of his desk and out his room itself. She went to Jasper's room, but sighed as the door to it was locked. She then went downstairs to the living room where she changed into her clothes and slept on the lumpy sofa. She huddled in a fetal position, as the nightmares in her mind took over her vision. She kept all the lights on, but still shadows were everywhere.

She looked and saw where the ceiling met the walls, black mist seeping through it. It poured down like fog into the room, gathering around the lights and blocking them. Shapes would form in the black mist and swirl around the room menacingly.

She had to physically grasp the couch cushions to prevent herself from getting up and going to the Joker's room, for she knew that he would take the nightmares away as messed up as it sounds.

Human contact would take the nightmares away.

She finally cried herself to sleep a few hours later after trying to find Candy.

When morning hit, she was still hoping the Joker's threat was just out of anger. She hoped that he would walk down the stairs and start talking and acting normal around her as if he was never mad at her. At a time like this, she needed someone to talk to.

With Jasper gone and Candy mysteriously gone, he was all she had.

She sat in the kitchen and made herself a quick breakfast. She sat on the couch in the living room to eat.

Silence suddenly consumed her. The shadows only talked at night. But silence was now; the daylight.

Silence was something she used to yearn for, but now she dreaded it.

It was louder than the Joker bellowing in her eardrums.

She wished Candy's voice was chattering away about nonsense things or the Joker right now. She even wished the Joker would sit and talk to her about anything; even things that were gruesome.

If someone were to ask her a week ago if she wanted to be near the Joker, she would respond with a no. But now, she needed him. She needed a voice other than the shadows of her mind to speak to her and help her figure out what was wrong with her.

She looked up from her breakfast as she heard the Joker walked down the stairs. Her breath held.

He did not glance up at her as he walked to the kitchen and made himself breakfast. He sat alone at the table eating his food quickly.

_He was being serious...He really is mad at me. _She gasped in her mind. _Candy please I beg you wherever you are come back!_

With no answer, she looked down at her food and picked at the remains of it with her fork. She bit her tongue inside of her mouth to stop herself from speaking.

_Saying one word will make him lose it.._ She told herself.

_Don't speak...Don't speak._

She decided to distract her mind by flicking on the television. She changed the channel to the news and was greeted to the local newscasters beginning their morning news.

"_And we have breaking news today. This morning a microchip was sent to Gotham City police and on the chip was an audio recording of-"_

SMASH!

Out of nowhere, the Joker rushed into the living room and kicked the television off its table causing it to smash and a puff of smoke to come out of its' screen.

Nichole let out a scream of shock and jumped up on the sofa in fright.

The Joker then began to pound the already broken TV to a pulp, swinging and kicking his feet down on it; retracting his knife from his shoe's tip to add extra damage.

She looked from the broken shattered TV, to the Joker who was looking at the TV with a small grin. He glanced up at Nichole and the moment he met eyes with her he gave her an unexpected stink eye.

She furrowed a brow and looked at him utterly confused.

_Well… that's not something you see every day._

_Why did he destroy the TV...._ She thought to herself. _There is something he doesn't want me to see.... Did he...record my conversation with Gordon? Was that it?...No it can't be...He wasn't around to plant a chip on me and Jasper would never...Maybe he just doesn't want me to have contact with the outside world._

He chuckled to himself darkly as he stopped giving her the stink eye and returned to the kitchen for a few moments, only to leave the warehouse itself a little bit after.

She sat in a daze watching him leave without a word.

Nichole spent the rest of the day by herself sitting on the bottom of the stairs, staring at the threshold leading to the hallway where the garage was in. When the Joker returned home, she would see him and he would have to look at her.

She wanted the cold shoulder routine to end _now_.

Shadows were already starting to form slowly as the sun outside was setting, casting dark shades to appear on every inanimate object in every room.

A sound pulled her from her absent staring contest with the dull walls. The sound of brakes screeching and a car door slamming shut, caused her gaze to shoot up. The Joker entered her line of sight within seconds as he stormed into the room. He was looking at the ground as he literally walked right by her sitting figure on the stairs.

"What am I to do?" Nichole muttered desperately to herself, hiding her face in her hands once she heard the Joker reach the third floor and slam his door shut.

Hours later Nichole was laying on the couch again, tossing and turning. Along with shadows leaking through the walls, blood poured down through them as well. She started seeing objects and the room around her spin and vibrate. She blocked her ears with pillows in an attempt to block all the menacing voices in her head, but remembered the moment she did that....that the voices were in her head....they could not be blocked.

She looked up and all the light bulbs in the lamps and overhead light fixtures started to explode one by one and the darkness took over the entire room. Each exploding light caused her to scream in fright.

Except for one little light, which took her a moment to realize what it was coming from. The broken television screen was playing even though it was impossible in its state.

"This just in!" The news reporter said. Nichole stood up and walked to the television, gasping to see the news reporter was herself dressed in a blood stained suit and messy blood clumped hair. Nichole on the television threw all her papers in the air and started spinning around in her news chair, while laughing spaztically.

The actual Nichole fell backwards in shock, hitting her back on the coffee table. She placed her hands on her temple and hid her face in her knees.

"STOP!!! STOP IT!" She screamed into her knees.

As she looked back up the room was normal. The television was broken and _not_ playing. And also...she was back on the couch, _not_ on the floor by the coffee table.

"What is happening to me!!" She screamed in rage, throwing a few of the couch pillows across the room.

She knew the night was going to be a long one and she was going to end up breaking the rules the Joker set for her now.

She stood up from the couch and went to the kitchen; her body shaking completely trying to resist the urge to run to a bathroom and do as the shadows said.

She knocked many items off the counter tops by accident as she searched and found a piece of yellow lined paper and a pen. She kneeled on the ground placing the paper on a chair by the table and leaned against it as she wrote with a shaking hand.

"_Jasper--_

_If you return to the house and I am not to be found there is a reason. Jasper...After you left things happened. My mind snapped even more, if that is possible. An event triggered something and I tried to attack and kill the Joker. He is now so mad at me, not only for that but because of me inflicting wounds upon myself. Yes...I should tell you now..I let the razor you gave me bite that night I fell asleep in the Joker's bed and you were worried about me. I lied to you. I am so sorry. _

_That night I lost myself. _

_I was and still, am nowhere to be found. _

_I don't know what's wrong with me now. _

_Candy is suddenly gone.. _

_But ever since then Candy has mysteriously vanished and I keep calling out for her but she is gone. I know it._

_And I need her now. I need someone. You are gone and Candy is gone and now the Joker is mad at me._

_I need someone to talk to about what is wrong with me. I suddenly need to the Joker to help me rid myself of the shadows...._

_....Isn't it funny how calmly I can write about the shadows talking to me? To explain to you, the shadows are...just simply voices and dark shapes clouding my mind._

_They go away when I am not alone and am around someone who understands me._

_I know you believed me, when I told you what was wrong with me. But you don't burden yourself to fully understand and know it all and quite frankly I am glad you don't. I am nothing but a bother to you. So please don't ever try to understand me._

_I don't know what's going on and I don't know why I am even writing this. Maybe this is just the only way I can cope… by venting my thoughts on a piece of paper, imagining that they will soon be read._

_But I know I am only writing to keep myself from doing one of two things. _

_Right now, after I finish I am either going to listen to the shadows and go into a bathroom and shed blood or I am going to try to rid myself of the shadows and go into the Joker's room._

_Either choice I make is bad. The Joker had told me he doesn't want me near him or talking to him until he is not as angry at me. I think it is because he is so mad that if I speak to him...he will kill me. Killing out of anger normally is a fast death. Something he has made clear he doesn't want me to have the pleasure of going through._

_But I can't not be around him._

_I suddenly want...no..I NEED to be around him. It is the only way that I can be safe...as crazy as that sounds. I am not literally safe physically....but my mind would be safe. Internal damage._

_I am a danger to you Jasper. I am a danger to myself and others. But I am not a danger to the Joker. That is why he is the only one that I can talk to about this...when he lets me._

_I know I don't have Stockholm Syndrome. I do not love the Joker. But...I guess in a sense...I am loyal to him now. _

_For I know he is my escape..._

_So maybe I do have Stockholm.....Maybe I do...But that is not the only thing I have._

_Jasper.....I just want you to know that I thank you for everything you did and tried to do._

_You were the antidote that got me by. __You kept me sane for a little, but I knew it wouldn't last. You gave me a both a literally and metaphorical high… but all highs have to fade._

_I admire you and wish you the best. I know the choice I make tonight will make me dead either way...But I promise I will try my hardest to stop myself...but I don't think I can._

_I love you Jasper and I'm sorry._

_-- Nichole_

Placing the pen down, Nichole ripped the paper out of its notepad and folded it into a small note. She labeled it "Jasper" and walked to the second floor. She slipped the note under his door.

_I hope he reads it...but I hope it doesn't come to this._

Walking back towards the stairwell, she was met with her intersection of decisions. If she turned to the right she would be heading up the stairs to the Joker's room. If she turned to the left, she would be heading downstairs to the bathroom where she would dig at her skin without ceasing till morning, where the Joker would find her and...well she didn't really know what he would do.

Most likely heal her and then kill her slowly or put her back in Arkham.

She shut her eyes and spun around in a circle.

_Whatever direction I face..I will go_. She told herself, barely able to hear her own thoughts over the shadows.

"SHUT UP AND LET ME THINK!" She yelled without thinking in a sob to the voices in her head.

She opened her eyes and saw her path she was going to take.

She walked towards that path and followed it.

Within a few moments she was standing outside of the Joker's bedroom. She pressed her ear to the door and heard nothing. Her hand was on the knob of the door, itching to turn the handle and enter.

Nichole grit her teeth, trying to resist.

_If I go in, he'll just grow even angrier than he already is! _She tried to tell herself. _Then he will never help straighten out my mind and keep the voices away._

Her hand started to shake on the knob of the doorway.

_He's going to wake up!_ She panicked hearing the clinging noise it was causing.

Her hand started to turn on the knob. She placed her other hand on that hand trying to pull it back, but nothing seemed to work. Her body and mind wanted to be in his room. Only a tiny part of her fading will power was telling her to stop.

_STOP! Don't go in! He will kill you!_ She told herself. _It's probably locked anyway._

The words the Joker had said before echoed in her mind. _"I don't want to hear another sound leave your mouth until I say you are allowed to speak again. I don't want to see another cut appear on your arms or legs that I don't know what the cause was of. I don't even want to see your little prying eyes within ten feet of me, until I say you can be near me. Is that understood?"_

Her hand started to recoil as the phrase that hit her the hardest came pouring slowly in to her mind.

_Get out of my room._

Five words with five syllables that made her ears burn. That was the first time he ever told her such a thing or pushed her away.

Her hand laid limply by her side and she stared at the closed door, shaking as she resisted.

_I can't go downstairs...._ She cried to herself silently.

Her body fell to its knees before she laid in fetal position on the ground just outside the Joker's door. Her body literally blocked the entire doorway, so if he were to emerge, he would run her over.

It's times like this where any sort of attention could make meaning.

But she could not move. Her twitching and convulsing would not stop. She shook as hard and as violently as if she was cold, but it wasn't temperature that affected her.

It was her resisting her own mind.

Her mind had a whole new programming system.

Her mind that no longer could function without her captor.

He had created her warped mind and now it had attached itself to him.

She needed to hear something other than the voices of the shadows. She needed to see somethign other than things her mind makes up to scare her. Blood, mist, images of death.

Nichole tried to think of something happy.

Again her attempts to think of Tom, were crushed for she could not remember what he looked like anymore.

_Black hair? No...blonde hair? What color eyes did he have?_

_How old was he?_

Once again, the only pleasant thoughts that could come into her mind, and suppress the voices and shadows of her own mind, were that of the feelings and memory of the sensation the Joker was able to supply her that one faithful night.....

The floor beneath her suddenly crumpled and she was falling into a pool of darkness. She started to scream, but placed her hand over her mouth to block it out as she hit the floor again and her mind took away the random realistic image away.

She stared as she laid, at the Joker's door. It started to melt and the bronze handle started to drip onto her skin, burning away at it with each tiny drop. It burned through her skin and bone till it reached and soaked into the floor beneath her.

She shut her eyes tightly and then opened them again.

Everything returned to normal.

_What is going on? What is happening to me...._

Nichole slept on and off that night. Every so often she would wake up covered in freezing sweat, forgetting where she was.

When the Joker did emerge, she pretended to be sleeping and remained as still as she possible could. She expected him to nudge her awake, or make a snotty comment.

She would take anything.

She just could not be alone _anymore._

She winced her eyes open and could see his feet in front of her.

_He's looking down at me! He is going to say something! The cold shoulder routine is ending!_ She cheered to herself over her internal shadows that started to fade.

In the next moment, she saw the Joker's feet disappear from her line of sight, as he stepped over her and went downstairs.

Each step he took became distant as she heard him reach the first floor and become out of her hearing range.

_He's never going to speak to me again. _

_I'm going to be the death of me._

For hours upon hours, Nichole sat at the top of the third floor staircase; staring blankly at a wall.

The colors on it never looked so pale and grainy.

Her mind traveled downward.

Tomorrow, if he still did not speak to her or acknowledge her existence...she was going to do it.

She would run into a bathroom and dig and dig and dig at her skin with a razor.

She pictured her doing the act and then the Joker walking in on it. He'd gaze at her with a piercing glare and then he would smash her head into the wall. Once that was done he'd start trailing his own knives on her body, slowly cutting off her limps and carving a smile to her face. He'd take his time to release his anger. In a way...that would make her happy too.

For she would not be alone.

But she'd give it one more day.

Nichole went downstairs and ate some food. It felt like it burned up in her mouth when she tasted it. The food was not satisfying to her.

After she finished eating, she managed to locate a bathroom that was down the hall from the kitchen.

It was when Nichole was washing her hands, she felt freezing. Nichole put up the hood of her sweatshirt and hugged her arms around herself. Suddenly she heard a smash.

Nichole jumped as she heard something else... something heavy… fall to the ground outside the door.

_Is it him?_

Hand shaking, she opened the bathroom door.

Nothing was there in front of her.

As she poked her head out of the door, she caught something out of her eye and turned her head.

Her heart stopped beating.

The walls leading to the other end of the hall were covered with bullet holes and splattered with blood. Both old and fresh blood. There were two bodies sprawled on the ground at the end of the hall, still fresh and still bleeding.

"Oh my God…"

Petrified.

Her heart then skyrocketed in her chest. She choked as the muscle started racketing and slamming against the inside of her chest. She could feel it bouncing off the bone. Nichole gagged, closed her eyes as she clutched her chest and stomach as she bent forward as the hot streak made its way down her spine. The hairs on her arms stood straight up and her skin prickled her entire body.

As she bent over, trying to calm down what felt like a heart spasm, her tear blurred eyes briefly squinted at the ground. Something else was there. She was too transfixed on the sight of the other side of the hall that she didn't see what was _right_ in front of her.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

_Don't look down_.

She opened her eyes and fell back as she screamed bloody murder.

She continued to scream as she curled up into a ball, shaking and convulsing.

Jasper laid on the ground with his shirt pulled up exposing his gruesomely mutilated stomach.

"NO! JASPER! YOU CAN'T BE DEAD!!" she screamed as she pounded the ground. She blindly started to crawl up on her feet as she screamed before she had another heart spasm that caused her to fall painfully on the floor.

There she laid there, shaking in her tears.

Her heart felt as if it exploded.

Breathing grew harder and harder.

She had to have had a heart attack.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

_You just have to look up....You have to move Nichole._ She told herself.

She slowly lifted her head.

The breath and cries caught in her throat.

Nothing was there. The hallway was bare.

She slammed her fists down on the floor in rage and relief. "Why is my mind doing this to me! STOP! Just stop it!"

She stood her shaking self and and walked back towards the living room. As she passed by the hallway, something in the kitchen caught her attention and caused her to look in from the open threshold.

There hanging from the overhead ceiling fan by a couple of shirts tied together, was herself.

Nichole was hanging from a handmade rope of her own clothing. She was bare and bloody swaying back and forth from a small breeze. Her eyes had a glaze over them and stared blankly at the floor. Her mouth was slightly open, leaking blood.

Absolutly terrifyed, Nichole let out a piercing scream and turned around, diving onto the couch.

She burried her head in the cushions, screaming loudly.

"I'm dead! I'm dead!" She cried.

She shook her whole body in fear, seeing the image she just saw play over and over again in her mind.

"No...I'm not dead! I'm alive! It's just my mind! It's not real! It's my mind playing tricks on me!" She told herself, in her screams trying to convince herself.

She began to choke on her sobs.

She screamed to herself "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! THIS ISN'T REAL! THIS ISNT REAL!"

But she knew, as each one of her fists hit the couch in fear and rage, that she was awake. She could feel everything. See everything. Hear everything.

But her mind was messing with her.

Gaining courage, she looked up at the kitchen and saw everything was back to normal. She was not hanging by the fan dead. No blood was anywhere.

_It is just my mind... It's just my twisted mind_. She sobbed.

There she laid in her new 'bed' on the couch alone, staring at the television that he had broken to pieces yesterday. Her thoughts consumed and destroyed her.

Her fear beat at her mind. It felt as if bugs were inside her head, eating away at her brain. She pounded at her head with her fists a few times trying to 'kill' the bugs.

Nichole laid on the couch then, hiding her face in her hands to block out all sights her mind was creating for her to see.

Her heart lept with joy when she heard the door open and close as a sign the Joker was back once more. He was followed by some of his men, who walked behind him holding guns and large duffel bags.

She looked up at the Joker and some of her fear drained at her high hopes he would talk to her or look at her or do something to indicate his 'new rules' he placed on her were done and things would return to normal.

She wanted to return to 'normal'.

Her mind was too much for her to handle on her own.

_Candy must block these things away when she is around._

_I need her and she's gone._

They walked into the kitchen, and Nichole sat up on the couch. She placed her elbow on one of the couch armrests and would turn her head every so often to watch what the men were doing. Her whole body was still shaking widly in fear though. She feared the images her mind would display for her in the near future. Though she knew some of the things were not there, it still felt so real and looked so real.

Her mind was rejecting herself.

They had all placed their bags on the table and the Joker pulled out a rather large map, placing it in the center of the table.

He became to point randomly on the map. "Here. Here. And here is where we placed them. So here-" he traced a large circle with his index finger. "-is what should be affected by it. The cops should be so preoccupied with the matter, that they will not be trying to figure out the cause of it." He nodded his head. "I just need to make sure, everyone is where they are _suppose_ to be when I tell them to be."

"Don't worry boss, we gotcha." One of the men said, with the others agreeing with a nod a simple mumble.

"Good. Because like I said before, I will not be phoning you all to tell you what time to set it off. I told you the time, and therefor you must do it on that time no questions or hesitations. I will be busy at that moment with other matters."

"With what?" The same man asked.

"Depends on the situation at hand." The Joker sent a glare to that man, clearly showing to the man that he was asking something too personal.

The man visibly flinched, before returning his gaze to the map. They all started discussing things that Nichole could not follow very well.

A few of the men turned their heads every so often to look at Nichole with a bit of curiosity or disgust. One eyed her shaking and tapped the man next to him and whispered something. That man shrugged.

The Joker once looked up and ended up meeting her eyes, but he sent a glare and returned to his current business.

When they were done, the Joker packed up the maps and shooed the men away to clean and put away the bags and maps to where they were supposed to be. The Joker then briskly walked up the stairs without even sending a second glance to Nichole.

_This is absolute torturer!_

The men slowly started pouring back inside the warehouse; finished with their duties and jobs. Most grabbed beer from the kitchen and went into the same room as Nichole.

"What the fuck happened to the TV?" One asked in shock, and then looked at Nichole. "Did you fucking break it?" He sat next to her and nudged her with his elbow.

"No, the Joker did." Nichole said flatly, staring at the floor.

"Well fuck it all. Now what we suppose to do?" Another guy asked.

"I'm sure that...she can give us some form of entertainment. From the noises she makes, I'm sure she's a fun ride." The man seated next to her, placed a hand on her leg and began to rub it.

Nichole stood up defensively. "Don't fucking touch me you worthless piece of shit!"

The man pointed at himself in disbelief as he spoke. "Me? Worthless? Not the way I see it. I got money, friends and a job tah boot! And what do you have? Nothing. Nothing but a fucked up body that thinks its two people. So why don't you put your only use to good work and start using it over here." He patted his lap, and the other men chuckled piggishly.

"The Joker will kill you if he finds out what you've been saying to me." Nichole walked over to the bottom of the stairs, keeping a hand on the railing.

"Oh will he now?" A different man asked. "The way I see it, he don't care about you even in the slightest bit. He didn't talk tah yah at all or even look at you. Probably cause you're nothing but an eye sore to him. So I don't think he'd mind if we use yah."

"Just leave me the hell alone." Nichole spat at them and went upstairs.

She walked all the way to the third floor once more.

Rotten bone that were hands started coming out of the ground and steps of the stairwell. They grabbed for her legs to drag her downwards. She let out a scream and swatted away the hands in the ground. She sprinted up to the thrid floor and almost crashed into the Joker's door. She placed a hand on the walls by his door to bring herself to a hault.

_It's just your imagination._ She told herself. _Don't dwell on it. It's just fake._

Easier said than done.

Nichole slide herself down to the floor and sat outside his door. She could hear him in his bathroom running the tap water.

_Nothing but an eye sore...._

_I'm not an eye sore._

_In his eyes I am...I am something._ Nichole tried to motivate her falling self esteem. The shadows began to taunt her and call her names.

_You are just an eye sore Nichole._ They said. _You are worthless and no one cares about you. You are an ugly duckling._

_I'm NOT worthless! _She shouted back to them._ And I'm not an eye sore! To the Joker...to him normally I am at least something!_

_A small something!_

_But something none the less!_

_I may just be his toy and his tool but in his eyes...I am..._

_I'm..._

She paused.

_I'm nothing....._

She hid her face in her hands and fell forward in defeat on the floor. She began to sob, trying her best to keep it quiet and not alert the Joker that she was just outside his door.

_I am nothing....._

The next hour she endured taunting from the shadows as she sat outside his door.

They seemed to beat all other emotions except fear and sadness out of her.

Sometimes she actually thought she was nothing but a piece of trash on the floor. She waited for some wind to pick her up and blow her away to a dump yard where she belonged.

Finally she could not take it anymore.

All this time she had resisted her urges, but she had to give in.

_I cannot go on like this tonight...._

Slowly, she stood up and placed her hand on his door. She pushed the door open ever so slightly and peaked inside.

On the bed the Joker was laying still and silent.

Nichole walked in slowly and crept to his bedside, giving in to what her mind wanted to do to take away the pain and suffering it had been enduring for days.

She stood by his bedside and looked at his sleeping figure. He was laying on his stomach, with his head on his askew pillow. The blanket on him was messed up and showed his lower body, but hid one leg. He was wearing dark green boxers from what she could see. He seemed peaceful and yet terrifying.

Nichole's hand started to lift up into the air and start to aim to touch his sleeping paint smeared face. Her hand started to shake as she tried to pull back.

_I can't even look at him without wanting to have him make me feel something other than the feeling inside me. The numbness. My urge to take it away is becoming too strong. _Nichole shot her hand back and turned her back to him. _If he finds out I'm in his room....He'll...._

Nichole got on her knees and crawled to the far side of his room. She faced the wall as she laid down.

Being in the same room, gave her mind a bit of rest from the shadows since she did not feel _as _alone.

She missed Candy though. She never realized that her constant bickering and chatting had been something that kept Nichole from feeling alone.

_Candy would tell me I am stupid and fucked up when I saw those visions… letting me know they are not real._

Morning hit faster than she expected and though she slept well, the feeling of emptiness remained.

Nichole laid awake in the morning, not bothering to turn over to stare at the Joker's sleeping form.

After a few moments, she could hear movements from his bed.

She could hear from behind her the Joker get up, put clothing on, and leave his room.

He _had_ to have seen her and still he did not even say a single thing to her.

_At least he didn't kill me for being in the same room as him._ She thought to herself sadly, trying to find one positive.

But her self-timer was done...

She sighed standing up and looking around his empty room one last time. She idly went over to his bed and brought his comforter to her nose to take in his disgusting scent...

The scent she wished she could smell once more on the actual person it belonged too.

She used to cling to smells of people before.

There had been one person in particular she had clung to his scent... His warm, musty, spicy scent.

_What was his name again?_

It escaped her.

Nichole walked over to one of his windows and threw open the tattered curtains. She opened the window with much difficulty. It felt as if it had not been opened in years. She stuck her head outside of the window and leaned her upper body out.

It was rather chilly and snowflakes were pouring down on her and catching in her hair. She took deep staggering breaths in and watched her breath fog in the air in front of her. The only thing she missed from the outside world was the air. The air was something that never would change or discriminate. The air was for everyone and everything.

The shadows were beckoning her to jump.

_Jump..._

_Jump off..._

_Jump...._

and then....

"YOOO!!!! Nikkiester! dónde está?" A voice called from downstairs.

It was at that point Nichole fell to her knees and burst into tears of happiness as the door to the Joker's bedroom opened.

* * *

**Kait:** Yes...We are aware this chapter is messed up. But that's the way we want it muhahaha. But anyways. Just to inform you next chapter will be EPIC. LIKE EPIC! I think you all will jump up and down when you read it. That being said, it may take some time for me to type out and then passs along to Syd to edit, because this sort of epic things take me some time to type out cause they are kinda hard for me. But that's okay!

**Sydney:** Okay now on to the important stuff! Me and Kait met! It was so much fun meeting her and there were a lot of tears and we saw Phantom together and hung out and talked about eye Candy and omg it was just a perfect weekened! But I miss her already!

**Kait:** I miss Syd too, but we still have the phone haha. And Sydney will be uploaded the videos we made to her youtube accont. They are funnny and may give you hints about next chapter and other chapters to come! Hahahaha. Oh gosh. One idea we came up with is pure funnyness.

****New fanart by Raine-13**


	48. Dysfunctional Relations

**Kait:** Many events happened in between last update and this. I had a concussion, school started, AND I realized the character study of Jackson Rippner from Red Eye is the most interesting ever! I mean damn what is going on?

**Sydney:** hey! okay this lack of update was MY fault for the most part. The last two weeks have been extrememly depressiong for me but Kait has helped me through them and slowly i am getting better :]

**Kait:** Well enjoy people. This chapter was hard for me and thankfully i had written it before the concussion, cause if i hadn't I prob would by accident label the Joker, Jackie Boy or clown dude. Idk lol.

* * *

"Nichole...I don't have the slightest clue what I should tell you to make you feel better. I'm sorry." Jasper said hopelessly as he sat next to Nichole on the Joker's bed.

Earlier as Jasper came up into the room, she raced to him and pulled him into a tight hug as she cried hysterically. When he had asked her what was wrong, she proceeded to tell him everything; leaving no detail left out. He sat there, horrified, as she explained what she endured and the visions she had seen. He seemed most affected when she told him about the time she saw him dead in the hallway.

Jasper held the shaking and quivering Nichole to his chest and stroked her gently trying to calm her down.

"Jasper... Even you can't help me. You can't save me from myself....." Nichole choked out into Jasper's now tear stained shirt, but her voice was too muffled for him to hear.

He continued to say a few comforting words and hug her until her crying ceased.

Once she had calmed down enough to look at Jasper and all the smaller details about him, she managed to see the front of his hair on his frohawk was now dyed bleach blond.

She pointed to it, with a smile breaking through her sobs. "I like it."

He lightly touched the top of his hair. "Oh! Heh. Thanks, I always like to try something new....But are you feeling better now? You feel as if you can stand up and walk around?"

"Yes. Yes. With you here......" She patted his side as she sniffled. "I…I just don't want to think about what has happened...or when it will happen again."

"You were just lonely and maybe took some drugs without realizing it, girl." Jasper said half heartedly trying to make the problem seem less severe.

"Yeah..." She faked a laugh to make Jasper feel as if he was helping.

He wasn't.

Though he could comfort her.

Though he could be there to hug her and wipe away her tears.

Though he could make her feel less alone.

Though he could distract her mind just a little from the twisted visions and shadows.

He could **not** fully understand her.

He could **not **comfort her in the way she _needed _to be.

He could **not **possibly believe everything she told him.

He had to think she was just a crazy person, but chose to ignore that side of her and like the good side of her.

That is what Jasper does:

Ignore the crazy and stick with the sane side… well… what's left of it atleast.

Nichole doesn't blame him either for acting that way.

She'd most likely do the same if she was in his position.

But she was in her own position and what she needed was the Joker.

If he had just talked to her at this point, she'd be able to fight off the visions and shadows clouding her mind.

If only....

Hours later Nichole had showered and was in Jasper's room getting herself ready to go downstairs to the booming sounds of the party that had started an hour earlier.

The Joker still had not returned to the warehouse. Jasper told Nichole that he doubted he would be coming back until morning. And when he did get back, if he did not shoot everyone in the warehouse, he would just go to his room and sleep.

"Who is even at this New Years Eve party Jasper? All your friends?" Nichole asked as she put on her brown scoop neck dress she had bought when her and Jasper went to the mall.

Jasper was at his mirror, applying eye liner as he spoke. "Well yes and no," he finished applying his eye liner and blink his eyes a few times, staring in the mirror, "It's some of my friends, the other Joker goons, and then their friends....and girlfriends...and hookers....You know...the usual..." He put the eye pencil down and re-adjusted his lip ring and eyebrow ring before putting back on his glasses.

"Hookers?" Nichole repeated in a laugh as she combed through her hair a few times.

"I am going to owe boss so much tomorrow. As if cleaning up after this shit of a party won't be bad enough...He's either going to kill me or make me do so many favors for him that I'll die of exhaustion." Jasper shrugged it off. "I don't care. If I die, at least it be with a bang."

"Don't talk like that...." Nichole snapped at him.

"Jeez! Sorry Nikki. Didn't mean to offend you." Jasper wiped away a little smudge under his eye. "Just saying I like to party and no one is gonna stop me."

"I'm still in shock he let you...." She chimed.

"Well that's cause it just so happens he's busy with all his works and shit so since he's busy with that he doesn't care. And it's not like he'd be worried this place is gonna get trashed. He could give two shits about this building. I mean yeah, he'd want me to clean it up so he could walk around without stepping on glass or something and hell I want this place to have a bit of dignity. Well I'm heading downstairs. I'll see you in a little...if I haven't found some action by then and left." He blew her a kiss before leaving his room with a grin.

Nichole stared at the closed door and sat on Jasper's bed alone for a moment, hearing the loud chatter and music playing downstairs.

She laid back on his bed and shut her eyes, feeling very light headed.

_Maybe if I get so drunk at this party, I won't be able to focus on this crazy shit..._ the thought came to her head as she looked up. The room started swirling around her as if she was spinning.

_Not a chance..._The shadows chimed in her ears as she stood up and headed to the doorway.

She sighed, _No… It might make my visions more out of control and realistic._

"This is going to be another long night." Nichole sighed to herself as she reached for the door knob and it disappeared from her grasp.

She stared at the door in shock and tried reaching for it again. Her hand just went through the door as if she stuck her hand through a cloud of mist.

_I am nothing...._

_Might as well see what I can do. _She pushed her whole body through the door, and to her shock, wasn't surprised when she went right through it.

_I amount to nothing...._

As she went through the door, there was nothing but darkness on the other side of it.

Screaming was what escaped her mouth next, as her body itself began to fade. She was nothing, therefore she was turning into literally nothing.

She rubbed at her skin trying to stop the transparent texture that was spreading.

She shut her eyes tightly and fell to the ground, slamming her fists into it in rage and confusion.

She could feel the impact of her fist to the hardwood floor.

_Wait...._

She looked up. She was kneeling by Jasper's door. It was all another vision.

_I knew it...Jasper can't take it away...or my mind off of them..._

She held in the cries wanting to escape her mouth and the sudden urge to not go to the party overwhelmed her.

She just wanted to sit in the Joker's room on his bed and wait for him to return. She would beg him.

**Beg.**

Or even just do something to cause his anger to overpower his will to not speak to her.

Attention is fine in _any_ form.

Still, Nichole couldn't help but wonder

_What would it be like to be nothing?_

Downstairs the party was a little out of hand.

Music was blasting loudly and the stench of alcohol was everywhere. There was barely room to walk around, let alone dance. It was clear to the naked eye, which of the party goers were the hookers. The couches and chairs were filled with activities similar to what Nichole had done to the Joker many many nights ago.

It made her mind ache even worse seeing the simple reminders of things she started to think would never happen again.

It had taken her a few minutes to locate Jasper in the party, and she awkwardly shuffled her way to him.

"Nikki! Finally decided to come down! Here have a drink!" Nichole didn't have to scan the room again to look for him. He had just finished dancing with what looked like to be an Abrocrombie and Fitch model. He was without a shirt, exposing a pair of glow-in-the-dark nipple piercings, a life guard whistle around his neck along with many other necklaces.

_Shit… He does know how to party_.

He grinned at Nichole's open mouth, amazed expression as he headed over to her and passed her a red cup filled with beer.

She took the cup with a small smile she forced. "Thanks..." She said, just finding her voice. She immediately took a sip of beer before she pointed. "You never told me about those!"

Jasper smirked, "Oh, these babies?" He said as he flecked his pack muscles, causing the piercings to shift. "Gosh Nichole… I cannot even imagining the number of times I have gotten drunk and got many things to my body done to me that I don't even remembering happening to me!"

Nichole found an honest laugh leaving her mouth as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and lead her to the group of people he was dancing with.

"Ow ow! Damn Jasper! I didn't know you had some hetero genes in you boy!" one of the guys whistled to them. He was clearly intoxicated.

Nichole gave him an awkward smile, not used to such social interactions anymore. She didn't know how to respond. She held in a smirk, eyeing what he was wearing. He was wearing shiny gold pants and, like Jasper, with no shirt exposing his tattoo covered torso. He was wearing a feathered boa around his neck.

Jasper laugh, "Sadly, no Brady… Though I would be the luckiest man in the world if I was straight and had this chicka all to myself!"

Nichole couldn't help but feel her face get fuzzy with emotion…

_That is so sweet of him!_

"Anyway, fuckers, this here is my home-girl Nikiester! And these are some of the queer bitches in my nest."

"Guilty as charged," Brady said, bowing his head. "And hello there Nikiester! I am Brady, ay kay ay Queen Bitch!" pointing to the tiara on his head, "And you, m'lady, are quite beautiful." He said as he took Nichole's hand and kissed it as a formal introduction.

Nichole suddenly felt thankful that she had decided to cover her scar on her cheek. She had bought the suppiles to do so that time at the mall with Jasper.

"Enchanté," Nichole said, giving a small laugh in her throat.

Oh yes. She was not used to such interactions. Being called 'beautiful' was something she hadn't heard in such a long time, she almost forgot the meaning.

_It had to be the lighting in the room.... _She thought negatively to herself. _If the lights were all on and we were not in a crowd, he would see the monster I am. The look in my eyes that show I am not fully here._

"Hey, what's up? I'm Craig," said the Abrocrombie model himself as he stepped forward and shook Nichole's hand smiling brightly, taking her from her thoughts.

After Nichole was introduced to a few others, she looked at Jasper and said, trying her best to seem overly cheery to him, "Jasper! How dare you not introduce me to your friends sooner!" She playfully scolded. If she faked having fun, maybe she would convince herself into having actual fun.

"Yeah Jasper! Why do you have to be such a dickhead?!" A guy named Travis, said, smiling. "Don't worry honey, he just tends to get embarrassed about us, honey… We outta kick him out and let you take his place."

Suddenly, the intro of a very pop and upbeat song that every could recognize boomed through the speakers.

"FUCK YEAHH!!!!!" Brady screeched as he ran into the center of the room, tearing his tiara off.

Nichole was then pulled into the crowd with Jasper's friends and soon found herself dancing and laughing her head off.

She actually started to have a little bit of fun.

_This should be an interesting night…_

After about an hour of non stop dancing and chatting with Jasper's friend's, Nichole couldn't think of another time she had been in this type of situation.

This was the first time in… in… oh Lord knows! That she was communicating and socializing with completely new people. And these people didn't scorn her, they welcomed her in with open drunken arms. At one point Nichole found herself on a couch with Brady and Craig, the three of them chatting and laughing with a red headed, good humored hooker.

Nichole was pleasantly surprised by this feeling of joy. However, talking with other people didn't stop a few scary moments from occurring. Thankfully no one else noticed, and when she would start to space out, Craig or one of Jasper's friends would lightly shake her and ask her if she was okay.

After being asked, she was fine and would continue laughing, talking and dancing.

Nichole didn't need more people knowing what she was seeing and hearing.

"Oh GOLLY I need a break!" Nichole heaved a breath of air as her and Craig staggered their way through the mass pit of sweating, dancing bodies.

Nichole leaned against the threshold between the kitchen and living room area, relieved that she was in a freedom of personal space.

Craig laughed, "I hope I didn't wear you out, I just had to show them my mad dance skills with my new dance partner," he chuckled.

Nichole had remained sober, and very surprised by herself that she did. She had given Brady her drink in order for him to "boost his confidence" into competing in the dance-off challenge that took place not too long ago.

As Nichole was talking to Craig (him doing most of the talking since Nichole had to be discrete in revealing herself) as he was explaining his career in dancing, and on Broadway, a very drunken Jasper staggered over to them, holding a bottle of liquor."What the HELL are you two doing over here by yourselves?" he asked with a smile. "Ya'll aren't converting to the pussy over me, are you Craig?"

Nichole and Craig laughed at Jasper's drunken banter.

"Nah," Craig said, smiling, "But you were right, she is amazing to talk to…unlike those drunk bitches!" He shifted his head to the dance crowd as he took a sip from his drink. "I actually need a refill, Nichole do you want any?"

"No thanks, Craig."

Craig rolled his eyes with a smile on his face, "Intent on staying sober.. I LOVE IT!" and he walked away.

"Okay girl… I know you is all scared you gonna go having crazy visions and all that shit… but come on! You have got to at least have something in your system!" he said, motioning to his bottle.

Nichole smiled, "Oh come on… You're just jealous that I can have a great time at a party while I am sober and you can't." she teased.

"Ouch baby… that was cold." Jasper shivered violently as if he just got stung. "But seriously… I miss getting out of my mind with mah girl out of my mind there with me!" he pouted as he put the bottle in her hands.

She chuckled. "Jasper I don't want to--...Hey!"

Something took hold of Nichole's wrist and started yanking her backwards into the living room causing her to drop the bottle in her hands to the floor as it smashed to the ground. She looked back at Jasper, who was staring in a daze at her.

She turned herself around to shove whatever drunk person had a hold of her wrist, to pause and see a purple gloved hand attached painfully to her wrist.

Her breathing hitched.

_No..It can't be._

Her eyes followed the gloved hand up to its' arm and body. She could not see the front of him, but seeing his hunched shoulders in his purple jacket was more than enough for Nichole to know the Joker was pulling her.

He was leading her into the garage area..

His attention was finally caught.

She didn't know if she was going to burst out into tears right then and there.

She knew that she was saved though… Even though she was having a great time and was suddenly pulled away from it, she knew she was saved.

Saved from herself.

Even if he was going to kill her right now, she wouldn't and couldn't care less.

He lead her to his van, which already had its' front doors open and the car itself was started. He flung her into the passenger seat and slammed her door shut tightly. He walked around to his side and hopped in, wasting no time to slam his own door shut and back the van out of the warehouse.

Nichole sat very still, staring at the Joker. Simply staring.

It seemed like ages since she had been this near him. She could hear his raging breath clearly. She could see his makeup and every spot that was smudged on it. She could smell his breath and familiar scent.

_Please don't tell me this isn't another one of my visions.... _She told herself as she shut her eyes tightly. _When I open my eyes, please tell me he's still there._

She opened them and sure enough he was still sitting in the driver's seat, clutching the steering wheel tightly and glaring out his window.

Her mind was starting to clear as hope set in.

She faced forward and waiting for him to say something; to explain his actions or anything.

About ten minutes passed.

"So are you talking to me now?" Nichole found the courage to ask and break the silence. Her voice sounded so weak and she thought maybe that would please his need to feel in control and powerful.

After a long pause, the Joker simply shrugged and said, "I don't know" as he continued to glare out his window.

She'd take that answer.

The first words he had spoken to her in days.

Her body slumped back into the seat, feeling some of the panic clouding her mind slip away.

"W-...Where are we going?" Nichole asked, with a tone of voice that now almost sounded as if she was high.

But really she was on a high. The high of relief sinking and flowing through every vein and fiber of her body.

The Joker did not respond to her or even look at her.

Instead he let one of his hands reach into his pocket. He pulled out a cell phone and carefully dialed a number as he switched his view back and forth from the phone to the road. He put the phone to his ear and waited a few seconds.

"Meet me out back." The Joker told whoever on the other end of the phone. After another pause he growled and yelled. "Who do you THINK it is?"

After another pause, the Joker sighed at the person on the other end of the phone. "Well make the arrangements. I don't care how. Kick them out." He then hung up the phone and tossed it into the backseats.

Nichole wanted to question what he was talking about, but decided it was best not too.

After a silent fifteen minute drive, they pulled into a shanty motel's parking lot. Instead of parking, he veered the van to the left entering the side alley way of the motel. He pulled around back, where a heavyset man was leaning against the back wall, smoking a cigarette.

The Joker stopped the van, barely missing the man by an inch. The man jumped a little, and nearly dropped his bud.

The Joker opened his door and got out of the van. He made no signal for Nichole to stay or follow him. He hadn't even looked at her straight in the eye once. He'd took his key out of the car, so she figured she'd have to follow him. Taking her chances, she opened her own car door and left the van. She walked around the backside of it and stood a few feet behind the Joker. She stared at the ground mostly, but she did know the Joker knew she had left the van, but he made no movement that suggested he was going to yell at her to return to the van or usher her closer.

She decided to listen silently to their conversation.

"It took a lot of convincing, but its free for the night. Told them infectious bugs were in the room and they had to vamoose!" The man said in a wheezy voice, suggesting he really was a heavy smoker. Nichole glanced up at him and they made eye contact. He eyed her up and down in her brown dress, quickly dismissing the thoughts of her being a hooker. She was wearing something much too conservative to be one in his eyes.

"I wasn't expecting you to bring company. Are you gonna want a cot for the room?" He asked, turning his gaze to the Joker.

The Joker paused for a moment and glanced over his shoulder at Nichole. He met her eyes for the first time and hers went wide at the dangerous look in his. They were cold and yet burning through her.

_At least he is acknowledging my existence._ She told herself. _And I haven't seen one messed up thing since I've been around him....Maybe this is working!_

The Joker turned back to the man. "No, I think we'll be just fine." His tone dropped down darkly.

The man held out a pair of keys. "Room 23."

The Joker snatched the keys from his hands and started to walk towards the side alleyway they entered. Nichole paused a moment watching him walk in silence, before snapping out of her daze and half jogging to catch up with him. She stayed her distance behind him as they rounded the corner and then another till they were in the front of the motel.

It had two floors. The doors to the rooms lined the outside walls. No lobbies or hallways. There was a building off to the side that she had missed before. It was rather small and had a lit up sign saying "No vacancy." The motel was called "Narrows Way."

_We are in the narrows? I didn't even see us cross the bridge. We are pretty far from his warehouse because I know for a fact it is not in the Narrows._ She thought to herself.

They walked over to the door leading to the room. The Joker walked in, leaving the door wide open. Nichole followed behind, closing the door tightly behind her. When she turned to face the room, the first thing she noticed was the dirty look to everything.

Nothing new to her though, with living with the Joker.

There was a bed with an ugly yellow comforter on it and two pillows at the head of the bed. One looked like it had a coffee stain on it...well at least she hoped that was what it was. Next to the bed was a tall floor lamp on one side and a small side table on the other side. There was a door that was slightly opened on the far wall. She could see inside was the bathroom, which she did not even want to think about. On the side wall to her right was a small in clove where a small fridge and a counter top was. There was also a rectangular wooden dining table with three chairs around it.

To her left in the corner closest to her was a beat up arm chair, where the Joker was currently sitting. In his hands was one of his knives. He was examining it with interest; tilting it back and forth a few times. He did not glance at her as she walked slowly over to the bed and sat on it, facing him.

Her hopes and her own personal high of joy were slowly fading.

Ten minutes passed and no words or eye contact was exchanged. He continued to just stare at his knife, passing it between his hands idly. Nichole had migrated on the bed so she was sitting on it properly. Her back was leaning against the headboard and the pillows she had propped up. Her legs were laying out in front of her and her hands rested on her lap.

Gaining courage, she decided to break the silence.

She had to make an attempt; doubt was starting to fill her.

"Was there any point to this? Or did you just want some silent company?" She asked with all honesty, disrupting the eerie silence that consumed them both.

The Joker acted as if he didn't hear her or didn't want to answer her question. He stared down at his knife with a blank stare.

She let out a quiet sigh and stared at his shoes, not wanting to look at his face any longer.

_He's still not speaking to me...He must have just wanted me to be away from Jasper when he was having his party._ She thought silently to herself, until he spoke up and her stomach leapt.

"Are you sorry for trying to kill me?" He asked with an unreadable, but yet dangerous, tone of voice.

Nichole was taken aback by the simple fact he had spoken to her himself, and not to answer a question of hers. It took her an extra moment to process what he was asking her.

But when she did process it, disappointment flooded through her body.

He wasn't about to forgive her. He still was angry with her and it showed. Her thoughts of him accepting her fake apology that was going to come out of her mouth were crushed and she knew nothing she would say would fix it.

The disappointment showed as she spoke.

"Honestly... no I'm not. I know I can't say anything to make your anger disappear. Either answer I could have given to you.... you're still not talking to me." She fiddled her fingers idly.

"Well what would you call what I'm doing at this very moment?" He asked licking his lips in agitation.

"Talking...to me...But..You don't mean it. I know you don't. You're still...." She said in a mumble. "But...I don't understand... You ignore me for three days and now...You randomly bring me here and talk to me and..." She rested a hand on her head. "I'm so confused..." She muttered to herself.

She glanced over at him. He was still seated in the chair across the room staring at her with unchanging eyes. A blank stare with no obvious meaning or hint as to the true nature of his stare and emotions coursing through him.

In utter defeat she stared back at her legs sprawled out in front of her; her dress barely covering the tops of her knees. She straightened out the creases that formed on it absently.

The walls of the hotel room around her were crumbling.

_I thought I knew never to expect anything out of something_. She told herself. _Look at what I am doing to myself again. He's just going to stare at me all night. He's just doing this to further increase my depression._

Just as she felt tears about to form over the brim of her eyes, a quick movement to her right and a sound to her left startled her.

She looked up and saw the Joker had thrown the knife in his hand across the room and it had embedded itself into the wall. She stared at the knife for a little before he spoke causing her to return her gaze to him.

He placed his hands on his knees as he leaned forward in his chair. "I have made a decision Nichole. One that might help the both of us and put the past where it belongs."

He pushed himself into a stand and started to walk over towards the bed. Just as she hoped he was going to come sit on it, he veered to the right and walked past the bed to the knife in the wall. After a few yanks, he tore it out of the wall and examined the hole it made. He walked over to the side table next to the bed and placed it there. She followed his every move with her eyes as he then walked to the foot of the bed and leaned against the wall opposite to her.

"I don't understand what you mean...What decision have you made...Because If you're just going to kill me just do it. I won't even put up a fight."

"My my, something about you _has_ changed. Perhaps you learned a _real_ lesson through isolation?" He teased.

She broke eye contact and crossed her arms over her chest. She stared at his pant covered knee caps, that were slightly bent while he leaned against the wall.

He broke the small silence. "Fortunately...or rather unfortunately for you, killing you is not my decision right now...."

"Then what is it?" She asked, looking back up at him as he eased his body away from the wall. He stood at the very foot of the bed. He towered over her even from the distance of the length of a simple queen size bed. Her breathing hitched as the disappointment in her returned to hope.

His tone of voice suddenly changed. A trait of his that still amazed her.

"I have been curious about something Nichole.... Ever since about a week ago. This...certain thing has crossed my mind." He licked his lips slowly, trying to prolong what he was attempting to say to her; just to make her more on edge. "I've wondered if I am capable of being better than Candy."

Nichole blinked at him a few times and raised an eyebrow.

"Better than Candy? What?" She asked, her head slightly tilting like a puppy in confusion. "And I have to tell you something about Candy.. She's disappe-"

Before Nichole could finish her sentence, suddenly the Joker grabbed onto both of her ankles tightly and pulled her roughly towards the foot of the bed. It caught her so off guard, that she accidentally bit the inside of her cheek. As he pulled her even further so her legs dangled off the end of the bed, only then she slowly started to understand the meaning to his words.

_Oh my god...._

"Oh...Oh no. No you're not being serious." She sat up and started to crawl back quickly.

He gave her ankle another tug before he leaned his upper body forward as he placed his hands on the bed on either side of her stomach. He lowered his face down towards her.

"I'm always up for a challenge. And I think she has presented me with one. I do enjoy being the best at what I do." He mused, sending his warm breath on her face. He started to take off his gloves.

She soaked in his scent. It being the first time she felt it actually on her, in days. The dark clouds in her mind were being sucked away as he inhaled and let his hands find the brim of her dress. He slowly slid his hands along her bare thighs under her dress. Nichole couldn't help but shut her eyes at that familiar feeling. He then hooked his fingers under the elastic band of her panties.

As he straightened himself up and away from her, her undergarments went with his hands and slid off of her. Once they were past her knee caps, the Joker slowly kneeled down as he yanked them away from her ankles and tossed them to the floor.

_AhUk!_ She suddenly felt really uncomfortable in position. She could feel the open air touching her most sensitive area.

"You..can't be serious..." She repeated in shock. Everything was overwhelming her.

She had to be dreaming....

"Oh I've never been more serious." He spoke, trailing his fingers over her exposed thighs.

"Something tells me that you are telling the truth and that- OH-WHOAH!" Nichole bolted up in a sitting position and placed her hands on his forearms just as he started to try to pry her legs open.

The Joker suddenly froze and Nichole could feel him tense suddenly; his finger nails were starting to dig into the skin of her thighs.

"_Nichole_.." He spoke through clench teeth.

Nichole froze in fear.

His tone had a dangerous, deadly edge to it as if it was foreboding how he would suddenly give her the most excruciating, painful death. "If I were you… I wouldn't dare to touch me," he growled. His hands were starting to shake in rage.

Nichole quickly released his forearms from her hands and held her hands in front of her in fright. He was absolutely terrifying.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She panicked, "But please… I really don't feel comfortable with you doing this.." Her voice was shaking.

And she truly didn't. She felt morbidly embarrassed at the thought of him looking at her… down there....and...

Sure he had looked at her full bare self before, and even been rather close to her most sensative area with his face, but never had he done anything like this before.

For the first time in a long time, Nichole felt self conscious.

She figured along with this very embarrassing act, the fact he had not done anything sexual with her in a while was also not helping. She feared her body would not please him suddenly, since he had ignored it for so long. Or maybe he would grow bored of her body. Her body was the only thing that was keeping him hooked. Her mind gave him some giggles and laughs, but it wasn't enough to keep him hooked if her mind was going to remain at the state it was in now.

How much _more_ insane could she even get?

She wanted his attention. She had it. But the pure shock of what he was going to do was messing with her mind. Confusion was her state.

He then looked up at her, his eyes in slits under his make-up. "And do you think I felt comfortable with you being under the same roof as me after you tried to kill me?! You are so repulsive… I couldn't even stand looking at you.." He licked his lips, "And now I want to try something new and see things in a new light that will exert the fact that I completely control you. You can not just waltz around doing as you please Nichole. I, on the other hand, can waltz around _anywhere _I want at _any_ time."

He then succeeded in tearing her legs apart, exposing herself to him.

Nichole shrieked and purely from reflex, her hands landed on his shoulders again, trying to push him back. "DON'T-"

Her mind was telling her, he would stab her with a knife in the middle of the act he was about to perform. It caused her to panic.

His hands then drilled themselves into her shoulders as he shoved her with great force on her back.

"Nichole… I am starting to lose my patience with you," he said as he bent down between her legs (she didn't dare to close them) and he leaned a scarred cheek against her thigh as his fingers dug in her hips and pulled her down a bit more, "So I suggest you lie there, shut up, and let me do what I want."

He didn't have to yell to scare her.

And with that, his hands moved between her thighs, pushing them apart, as he planted his face at the apex between her legs.

_Ohhhh SHIIIIIITTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!_

His hard and strong tongue darted out in quick laps, vigorously licking her sex. Nichole gasped loudly and placed her hands on the bed, her hands involuntarily clenching the sheets into fists.

_Holy shit! Out of all things I've been pending on him to do.. THIS is definitely not one of them! _Nichole thought to herself in this erotic moment. She truly didn't understand him… once again…

_It is so weird… first he ignores me for three days then not even a minute ago he tells me how repulsive I am… and he is doing… this?... as a way to release his anger?_

But then another thought came in to her head… It was based off of the feelings she felt during those days where she would miss him so badly to the point where it would hurt: _Well...If this is his way of relieving stress… I am all for it_.

She was moved out of her thoughts as he traced his hand over her thigh, to the back of her leg and moved her right leg over his shoulder; still holding it up with his hand.

"Ohhhh Goddddd!!!!!!!!" Nichole moaned loudly before quickly biting one of her fingers as a way of holding her moans back; she didn't want to wake up the neighbors. Nichole curled her toes to the point where it hurt and leaned her head as far back at it could; This angle enabled him to use his entire mouth as a means of the current action he was performing.

Nichole sunk her teeth into her finger, otherwise her screams would have pierced the walls. The way he was moving his tongue…lips… AND scars! She knew the Joker had a strong tongue from the past experiences when they would tongue wrestle… but she didn't know it was THIS strong.

The Joker growled into her as he tilted his face slightly to the side so he could try all the different angles to lap up the juices within. Each time he would turn his face or move it back and forth as his tongue continued it's quick movements, Nichole would release a loud moan before biting her finger again to try to shut herself up.

Nichole groaned in pure frustration as she slammed her hand back down on the mattress gathering up the sheets again. She gasped and panted loudly, trying to hold back the louder screams and moans that threatened to leak out.

The Joker knew of this all along and decided to literally try to enforce those sounds out of her.

He moved his left hand from holding up the under side of her thigh (her leg still rested on his shoulder) and slid his hand up under the side of her thigh and slid it up under the bundling folds of her dress. His hand skimmed over the side of her rib cage up to the underside of her bra. His violent tongue didn't stop moving against her sex as his fingers dug under the bra cup and yanked it up and pulled it off and over her now exposed breast.

Nichole's toes curled as her fingers clutched the sheets tighter until her knuckles turned white. His rough, calloused hand squeezed her breast harshly and tightly, with no intention of letting go. He pressed down as his wrist rotated in a circle.

His hand was surely causing indents on her with how tightly he was gripping it.

Nichole let out a long loud moan as he continued, touching two of her vulnerable areas.

She felt his face back away from her and his grip on her breast loosen.

_Is he done? _Nichole's eyes opened at that thought. _Sonofatitfucking BITCH! __HE PLANNED TO STOP RIGHT BEFORE I-_

Suddenly, he squeezed her breast roughly that his fingernails dug into her skin…. And then she felt his long, strong, serpent, almost pointed tongue start to dark back and forth over her most sensitive area on her body vigorously at full speed. Nichole's breathing then formed a staccato rhythm. The hand on her nearly suffocating breast started to squeeze and squeeze roughly.

The Joker then brought his mouth over again and let out a growling groan inside of her, his voice causing vibrations inside of her.

This sent Nichole over the edge as she squeezed her eyes shut and moaned loudly to the point where it was almost letting out cries as her first convulsions occurred; she could feel that there were more to come.

This seemed to excite the Joker as she felt his scars lift against her in a smile before he surrounded his mouth fully over her clit; his tongue bashing it mercilessly in quick movements. He then rubbed his scarred cheek over her swollen clit. Nichole let out a scream at the feeling of his rough jagged scars. The Joker brought her nipple between his fingers and pinched and twisted it roughly, trying to make more screams come out; he was letting out his anger and frustration on her.

Nichole leaned her head back as far it could go, straining her neck. Her moans and cries filled the room. She felt herself start to contract, before she went off another wave of orgasmic euphoria, leaving her exhausted.

But he wasn't done yet.

He gave her breast one last squeeze before letting his hand rest on her right hip. He leaned his head back, taking deep breaths as he took his mouth off of her. Nichole could feel him staring at her, but her eyelids were too heavy to open as she focused on her breathing. She could still feel his heavy breaths.

The Joker scowled and using his right hand, he moved his fingers roughly over her clit, as a means of waking her up, watching his fingers do their work. Nichole groaned; this was hurting her. She leaned her sweaty head up and looked at him, wincing. She knew she still couldn't touch him. He took off of what he was doing and looked at her, smirking evily. He knew he was hurting her.

Nichole groaned as she rested her head back down, biting her lip, waiting for it to be over. She gasped when she suddenly felt his fingers enter her and his tongue took the place of where his fingers previously were.

"OH FUCKKKK!!!!!" Nichole's hips started to shift and rotate. He kept his mouth attached to her as his fingers kept moving, going in and out. Nichole screamed and moaned at the fast twitches of his tongue as he fingered her. She could feel her inner walls tighten as she arch her back and moaned loudly at her release. The ceiling seemed to swoop down over her as she felt her self convulsing uncontrollably, clenching and unclenching.

Then she was done and laid there panting and moaning before he took his mouth off of her and her fingers out of her. He leaned the side of his face of her thigh as he too, was exhausted.

The world around her was spinning. Slowly it was returning to normal and the feeling of pure excitement ran through every inch of her body. Even her finger tips were trembling as she let the arch in her back disappear.

She felt the Joker leave her and his warmth leave her tingling skin. She looked down as he lifted his head, keeping his hands resting on her thigh. His tongue was outside of his mouth, in his scar running back and forth in its crevices. His hands stroked her thighs slowly up and down with his thumbs.

He eyed her heavy breathing and dazed visage. A grin found its way on to his face.

"I win." He chimed, referring his challenge he placed upon himself, that had completely slipped from _her_ mind.

Nichole could not even form any words. She leaned her head back on the bed as she gasped for breath. Closing her eyes and letting the darkness cover her vision, she felt as if her lungs were about to burst open with each quivering and unsteady breath entering it.

_Calm yourself Nichole... _She had to tell herself, trying to snap out of her euphoric state. _What if he just did that to make you feel at ease so he can attack....so he can-...he felt so warm...It felt so- STOP! NO! Get a grip!_

Her thought betrayed her though as all her mind could focus on was the feeling running through her. The thrill she needed and the diversion from the pain within her had come to her at last. He had produced a feeling to go through her that she had not felt for so long. All thoughts of shadows and hallucinations were gone.

"So what do we do from here Nichole?" His voice bringing her from her exhilarated thoughts.

"Wha-uh? ...I-I don't kn-know." She stumbled, giving a small wince at how out of breath she was.

She finally moved her upper body up by leaning on her forearms. She looked at him as he started to tease her by running his scar on her upper thigh, causing a small jolt of bliss to run through her.

"Oh come on." He taunted. "You know you want this. You don't have to be modest on me yet again." He lifted the side of his face off of her skin. He used her thighs as a means to stand up.

Reality sunk in as he spoke and the feelings of pleasure faded utter confusion and paranoia.

"You're tricking me." She accused.

"No tricks here babe, only treats." He joked.

"No. You're up to something!" She pushed her dress down to cover her lower half once more. "I know your moods change often, but this was too quick of a switch! You have been mad at me for days and didn't even look at me or speak to me! And now you bring me here and act as if nothing happened! What is going on!?"

He rolled his eyes. "Well apparently that didn't work." He mumbled more to himself.

"This is unbelievable even for you! How do I know you don't have a knife on you and intend to stab me with it and- UGH." Her face scrunched up in disgust as she pictured him stabbing her with his knife in the middle of intimacy.

"I already told ya, I'm not gonna kill you." He licked his lips.

"BULLSHIT! I don't believe you. A knife could be anywhere! Sure you may not kill me, but you could stab me so I am on the verge of death. This isn't just adding up at all! You haven't yelled or anything!" She said in disbelief.

"Do you want me to start yelling? If you want me to I can." He taunted.

"You should be mad!" She yelled.

"I'm starting to get mad." He warned.

"But...But....You're gonna stab me. I know it!" She repeated, completely wrapped up in the perplexity of the situation.

She was in so much confusion.

"LOOK!" The Joker growled, "Here is a solution!"

With that, he stood up and quickly unbuttoned his vest and shirt tearing it off. His belt, shoes, and socks were the next things he tore off before his pants came down along with his boxers. He extended his arms out to each side of him as if welcoming her to a show.

Everything had happened so fast Nichole couldn't even think of what to say or...even think.

_Well… this isn't something that you see every day… The Joker performing a strip show._

The Joker narrowed his eyes at her, "If you want to come and check go ahead! I'm not wearing my strap on!"

Nichole could feel her eyes swell up to the size of goofballs. "Your **WHAT**?!"

"Strap on knife....." He rolled his eyes. "Get your head out of the gutter. But I have no knives on me Nichole..."

His arms dropped by his side as he stood back at the foot of the bed, staring at her. Nichole couldn't help but eye his battered, strong body, taking in every detail with her eyes.

_If I'm not dreaming then this is **fucked up**. _She thought to herself. _Nothing is making sense at all._

"But I still don't understand why-" She began.

He stopped her with his words. "You don't have to understand. You can try to sort out your thoughts later Nichole. For now just keep quiet with your whining."

With that he reached forward, grabbing either side of her hip and pulling her into him roughly before jumping on the bed ontop of her. As soon as Nichole felt his hard manhood between her thighs, her lust took over. Her legs curled around his waist in a reflex-like motion before he thrust himself inside of her. A groan escaped her mouth at the sudden feeling of him inside of her. He seemed to fit her perfectly at this point and with his own saliva on nearly every inch of her lower self, he had no problems.

All her thoughts and questions suddenly melted away and her mind was consumed by the satisfaction she was receiving.

The phrase "Actions speak louder than words" crossed her mind.

Her body tightened up and the back of her head pushed into the mattress as her back arched even more as he gave another thrust at that moment; making it slow and prolonged, letting out a loud groan himself.

"It looks like someone is a little over dressed," he panted, referring to her dress. He then leaned back, her coming up on his lap since her legs were wrapped around his waist, reached behind her back and yanked the dress off of her. His fingernails dug into her back as he took her off her bra and threw it across the room. "That's better," he mumbled against her neck before he leaned forward and laid down back on top of her. He reached one of his hands up went to her breast and began to twist and grab at it with no end.

Her upper body could feel the vibration as her skin was being pushed around by his paint smeared hands.

An, "Oh god..." came out of her next breath as he dug his fingernails into her breast and slowly raked them up to her nipple, where he pinched and twisted at it.

"Still worried I'm going to stab you?" He said as he did not miss a beat as he spoke, and managed to still sound taunting.

Even if he did. She would not care the least.

She just never wanted the feeling she had to go away.

The three days of isolated torture and depression were now becoming a distant memory. No longer could she remember the feelings she had during that time. Only the jolt of excitement racing through her pores currently.

He looked at her facial expression and took that for his answer.

She was staring at the ceiling, with her mouth slightly open to help get the warm air into her lungs. The sides of her mouth were slowly moving upwards into some form of a smile. Her hair was spread out on the bed under her head and shook against the mattress like a wave on each thrust. Her eyes were half covered by her eye lids and she looked as if she was in absolute heaven.

"I'll take that as a no." The Joker began to laugh manically.

With that his fingers left her breast and groped their way under her rear; clawing into its delicate flesh.

Her eyes squeezed shut as he controlled her movements for her. He pulled her forward and back by her hips. He let out a grunt as he picked up his pace suddenly.

She thought the feelings she had received before when he had done his 'challenge' were impassable, but she began to doubt that as he suddenly let his hands run down from her behind and rest on her under her upper thighs. He let them wander down to under her knee caps, where he pried her legs out of their hold on his waist.

In one fluent motion he took her legs and lifted them; placing the crook of her knees on either of his shoulders. One of his hands went on to her left hip and the other rested on the side of her leg.

Nichole's hands clenched into fists. Her fingernails dug into her palms leaving behind red marks. She let out a loud scream of thrill as from this position he was able to enter her deeply.

The Joker kept his stare down at her face as he let out grunts and moans of his own. He gripped her so tightly, she could not make her own free moments or wiggles.

He was in control over her and it excited both him...

and her...

Her mind had attached itself to him and honestly could not function properly without him. With him being the closest he could ever be with her, she was at ultimate ease with herself and him. Their relationship was nothing more now than just survival for her. Her only piece of happiness when they had these moments. Her only 'friend' as twisted as it was. And she did not even think she could come up with a word that could describe their relationship.

They weren't friends.

They weren't lovers.

And they certainly weren't 'bed buddies'; they were more than that.

They were simply...one.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Nichole and the Joker were lying side by side on the bed, staring at the ceiling, each smoking a cigarette, ironically trying to catch her breath. No words had been spoken. He had just crawled into the spot next to her and they both scooted upwards on the bed so their heads were on the pillow.

He broke the silence of recovery, letting out a puff of smoke.

"So Nichole...I am gonna ask you again....Are you sorry for trying to kill me?" He turned his head to face her; taking in another drag of his cigarette and playfully blowing a puff of smoke in her face.

She repeated his action and furrowed a brow in thought as she stared at his chin to escape the intensity of his dark gaze.

She took a few drags in contemplation before she made eye contact as she spoke, "Yes I am sorry."

"If you're lying to me just because you think the truth will hurt me-" He taunted, but this time _she_ stopped him with her words.

"I'm not lying. At the time I attempted to...I wasn't sorry. But now I am." She frowned.

"Why is that?" The Joker mused.

"I know as impossible as it sounds, but... I changed during the three days you ignored me." She scrunched her nose, trying to push away the saddened thoughts of isolation.

"Don't tell me you now got three people in your head." He rolled his eyes, teasing her.

"No...but..Oh...You never let me tell you what I needed to before. Candy...She's...She's disappeared." Nichole licked her dry lips absently.

"Disappeared?" The Joker raised an eyebrow, deciding not to hide his actual confusion for once with a snotty remark.

"Like I said...I've changed during those three days." She stammered, unable to put what she wanted to say to words.

"Nichole....You have confused me more than you know. Now I demand you just explain to me what happened to you while I ignored you." He rolled over on his side to face her and tugged on a piece of her hair harshly, urging her to speak.

"Okay okay I will....." She batted away his hand, hearing him laugh. She decided to not roll over to face him as well at this point, keeping the hand holding her cigarette in the air. She averted her gaze to the ceiling once more. She did not want to see his facial reactions to what she was going to say. He had believed her in the past about the many crazy things that happened to her and he even fully believed her about Candy, but what had happened to her for those days were so unbelievable, she didn't know what he'd say at all.

So then she explained it all.

The shadows.

The visions.

Candy disappearing from her mind.

"And now that I'm here talking to you and you are not mad at me...Everything has sort of gone away. Well except Candy hasn't come back...and I don't know if she will. But in those three days I realized, I needed her...but she wasn't there. No one was there..." She began to actually speak without registering it was the Joker she was speaking to. She spoke without care and without choosing her words. She was going to tell him exactly how she felt and what she thought.

"So why is it you kept coming closer to me each day. Once outside my door, the next in my room on the floor?" He asked wiggling his eye brows while he took another inhale from his newly lit cigarette since the other one wore off during her story.

She glanced at him and could not read his face. At this point she did not know honestly if he did believe her.

"You are the only one that really believes the things I tell you and for that reason....I-..." Looking at his face made what came out of her mouth next, extremely difficult. "I know this sounds insane...but..because of that I feel...a certain....comfort."

He remained silent and continued smoking his cigarette, so she stumbled as she continued. "I feel alone in this world, because I hate it. They don't understand my mind, but...you do. My mind has..." She sighed, seeing her beating around the bush was not helping. "I.. I think its' latched itself onto you because you're the only one that believes and understands me. It doesn't matter that you and countless others, were the ones to cause it to become like this. I now know what's done is done. When I'm around you...it reminds me that...I'm not alone. I think that's the reason I feel...'normal' around you. And why I..wanted to be around you."

The Joker narrowed his eyes in thought, taking in her words.

"I believe everything you just told me Nichole," he said as he handed her his cigarette, "I honestly do. But there is one thing I don't believe...and that is..." His voice suddenly went from serious to light hearted. "...that _that_ is the only reason you want me around you...." He teased suddenly as his fingers ran over her thigh.

"Well...Yes.." Her breath caught in her throat at how gentle his touch was her at this moment. She had to move her hand down and bat away his, so she would not be distracted by his games. "That is another thing...I do not mean to upset you when I say this but....In a twisted way the only pleasure I get in my life now..comes from you. My lows are low. I don't want to feel depressed and sad anymore. I don't want to think about what has happened to me. I honestly am starting to forget most of it, because I told myself to forget it! So in the time to myself I thought about the only source of something other than depression and pain, and that was coming from you....as sad as that sounds. I-...I just don't know. I'm not even making any sense to myself." She stared at his bare chest as her face was on the verge of breaking at how ridiculous she thought she sounded. It upset her she could not even figure her own mind out. She just knew what she wanted...but she couldn't figure out how that came to be.

He reached up and stroked a stray piece of hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ears, accidentally scraping his fingernails hard against her skin, but it didn't matter to him.

"Well we can't have you crying can we? You're just lucky I happen to be good at 'fighting' your depression Nichole." He grinned mischievously, taking back his cigarette she took a few smokes out of. "Like I said earlier, we can stop talking about the past. Live in the now. It's what I do. And it's what you are going to do too...right now." He took another drag before reaching over and smashing the cigarette in the ashtray that was provided on the little table next to the bed.

With that the Joker suddenly got up and placed one hand and snaked it under her, resting it on her back. With his other hand he placed it on her rear. He quickly picked both her and himself up off the bed and slammed her into the wall by the desk. The wind was slightly knocked out of her as her back hit the wall and it would have been completely if his hand had not moved behind her neck and back to cushion her hit.

He then moved his hands down to under her upper legs and made them wrap around his waist. His bare chest smashed into hers, causing her already tender breasts to ache.

"You have to warn me before you do these things. You're going to give me a heart attack..." She breathed out in a slight smile, putting one hand on his shoulder and her other on the side of his arm.

He tilted his head at her, as his grin grew. "But then you'd be prepared for things babe. I'll teach you another life lesson here....always be on your toes." He chuckled.

The Joker reared his groin down and entered her again and then smashed his lips onto hers.

It had been their first kiss in days and she had forgotten how he had tasted against her own moist lips. The taste of sweat, makeup, and cigarettes.

She had forgotten how his tongue would swirl around her closed lips until she would open her mouth to greet him. She had forgotten how much it would tickle her mouth as he ran it over the roof of her mouth and her teeth.

She took a staggering breath as he thrust into her deeply and she sucked the air from his mouth in the process. He picked up viscously with the kiss. Her back was aching from hitting the wall with such a force, but it didn't matter.

The tingling feeling and powerful jolts of pleasure racing through her body made up for it as she wrapped her arms around him.

His mouth left hers and he dug his mouth into the side of her neck, sucking at her skin like a leech. She leaned her head against his, bringing one of her hands under his arm to dig her nails into his back and her other hand went under his arm and up to tangle in his greasy wet hair.

She grasped it roughly as her eyes shut to take in the moment of pure bliss.

His own fingernails were digging into her legs as he supported her up. Each thrust, the wall and his body would vibrate through her being. She let out a moan, as he moved down on her neck. The side of his forehead was against the side of her chin and smeared his makeup onto her.

"Yes. Oh fuck yes." She moaned out into his skin, digging her teeth into his broad shoulder.

Before she knew what was happening, she felt her back leave the wall. He was still inside of her as he shuffled them a few feet, so she was sitting on the desk. Her legs remained around his waist, but his hands greedily moved up to grope at the small portion of her behind that was not sitting. He used his hands to push her into him rhythmically.

With the desk now supporting her weight, he had free reign to let his hands wander and explore her body, that he grew so fond of touching. His fingers picked up every droplet of sweat pouring out of her skin.

Nichole took her hand in his hair and tugged his head away from her neck. Her lips were aching for him to return, so she smashed her own lips into his. There were of course no objections from him.

Their tongues wrestled roughly with one another, fighting for dominance in the small area their mouths provided. Though, the Joker had the upper hand.

She pulled away for a moment, to catch her breath. With one intake of fresh air, the Joker gave her no more time, before he brought his hand behind her head and forced her mouth back to his. Even though they returned to their passionate kiss, he continued to push her head into him, as if she was going to slip away from him if he let go.

He let out a moan into her mouth as his other hand pushed as hard as it could on her back, forcing himself into her as deep as he could on the next thrust.

"Nichole..." He growled.

Another thing, she had forgotten....

..how much she enjoyed him moaning her name.

* * *

After a good ten minutes Nichole leaned against the desk while the Joker leaned against her trying to catch their breaths. His hands were on either side of her, resting on the desk. His head was ducked, hiding his neck from her line of sight. His hair hung over his face in clumps as he panted for air; sounding like an animal that had just recovered from a vicious fight. Each breath he took, sounded so odd and abnormal to her.

"I think-..." He started to say. "I think I'm hungry." He said flatly.

Nichole breathed, realizing she too was a bit hungry. "Me too." She agreed idly.

The Joker leaned forward a bit tilting his head at her. His breath was against her lips. She could feel every staggering movement of air and the scent of him. His eyes shut as he was inches from her mouth.

His slow and gentle like movements, made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up nervously.

"SO WHAT DO YOU WANT TO EAT?!" He boomed loudly and backed away and pulled out of her laughing as he watched her jump in her spot and fall off of the desk in fright.

The back of her arm scrapped against the edge of the desk and she placed her other hand over it wincing in pain.

"Stop doing that!" She screamed in disbelief at his random outbursts.

He chuckled and walked to the side table a few feet away. He picked up the phone casually and looked at the directory. After a few moments of staring, he dialed a number and put the receiver to his ear.

"Pizza." The Joker stated flatly to the person on the other side of the phone. "Name?" He looked over at Nichole and sucked on his bottom lip in thought. She gave him a shrug.

"Ah yes..." He turned his eyes to glance at the wall in front of him. "John Smith."

A pause.

"You have caller ID. Figure it out for yourself!" He placed the phone on its rest and chuckled.

Nichole's eyes wander over his bare figure a few times.

"John Smith?" She teased. "That is the best you could come up with?"

"I was going to say your name." The Joker scrunched his nose up, as if the idea repulsed him. "But then I remembered that I wanted to answer the door, so I gave a male name."

"Why do you wanna answer the door....Please don't kill the pizza boy. I don't want blood on my food....." She said.

"Well if he doesn't abide by the 30 minutes or less policy I can't promise anything." He folded his hands behind his back and pressed his lips tightly together to hide his smirk.

She rolled her eyes and stood up, feeling the cold air hit her bare form. It was then she realized just how warm he was when he would lean his body against hers. The room was freezing and her source of heat was gone.

Nichole took one of the top blankets off the bed and wrapped herself in it as she made her way to the dining room table. She sat in one of the chairs snuggling the rough and uncomfortable blanket to her, in need of heat and well....she did feel slightly odd to walk around with no clothes on.

The Joker came over to the table. He was only wearing his checkered light blue shirt, without buttoning it up. He too must have been a little cold without _his own_ source of heat. He sat down in the chair that was adjacent to her, sitting on one of the longer sides of the table.

Nichole could not help but suddenly blush at the thought of what they had done...twice.

And what he did...before that.

_It all felt so good._ She smiled inwardly._ If I can just stay on this side of him. His good side... If I can do this than I think all will be okay in life for now...If I can just remain on this high.._

Nichole was completely content and relaxed, sitting next to the practically naked clown.

She was even outwardly smiling at him at this point.

The Joker had propped his feet up on the table and crossed them; leaning back in his chair. His hands rested on his bare lap. "The food better get here fast." He mumbled, staring at the blank table with hunger.

"I-" Nichole started to speak, wanting to agree with him, when suddenly she thought of something.

Nichole then furrowed a brow as she followed her thoughts deeper.

She started to raise questions in her mind as she thought of the small movements and gestures the Joker has made to her ever since they had 'made up'.

_He has done away with me twice today...and he hasn't touched me when we aren't doing anything_. She figured out. _He hasn't... bugged me with questions that are personal....he hasn't attacked me... He doesn't make friendly eye contact... He must be still mad at me. _Her thoughts sparked her emotions to suddenly spiral downwards.

_And what is to happen when we leave here? Will he ignore me day in and day out and only pay attention to me for sex? Sure, I would not mind that at all since it's something I like but....If he's still mad at me this isn't good. He could strike me down and...._

_He'll grow bored of me...then kill me. If I anger him in any way, since he still hates me he'll kill me without hesitating. He's going to-_

"You what_-tah_...Nichole?" The Joker's dangerous tone of voice brought her from her thoughts.

She met his eyes. Even from the distance of a mere single side of a table, his eyes looked like two dark holes against his makeup. A bottomless pit that she did not want to fall into.

"Nothing." She lied, averting her stare to the table.

Silence consumed them. She dared to not look up once. Then he slammed his feet off the table and on to the ground. He made no effort to speak or any other movements after that. They both remained sitting in their chairs without speaking. Both lost in their own private thoughts.

_I am always so negative.._.Nichole told herself, as she was only assuming the worst of everything and thought she was reading too deep into things.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Pizza!" A voice came from the door.

Nichole and the Joker both looked up from their stoic stares at the table, to the doorway. Another knock caused Nichole to shuffle in her seat, ready to stand up and answer the door.

The Joker put a hand in the air, indicating her to stay seated. He stood up himself and walked over to his jacket first, calling a 'Coming!' to the pizza boy as he searched through his various jacket pockets for his trusty friend. Finally upon pulling out his gun, Nichole made a low wavering whistle to get his attention.

When he looked at her, she narrowed her eyes. "Don't kill him!" She hissed through her teeth.

Blood and pizza were not a good combination.

The Joker smirked and said nothing as he turned his back to her and answered the door. He opened it and stood his legs and waist down behind the slightly open door, so his bare lower self would not be exposed to the suddenly nervous teenage acne infected boy standing open mouthed with pizza box in hand.

Nichole did not blame the teenager for having such a terrified look on his face. For one...it was the Joker in front of him with a gun; and not only that, but in nothing more than a shirt and with his makeup smeared like crazy.

He pointed the gun up to the space between the boy's two eyes. "How much is the pizza?" The Joker chimed.

"O-O-On t-t-the h-house." The boy said shaking.

The Joker lowered the gun and tilted his head at the boy. "No no no..." He cooed out. "I want to pay you for your humble service to us..." The side of his mouth twitched as he fought in a sneer.

From where Nichole was seated, she could see the Joker's knuckles become white due to his tight grip on his gun.

_He's going to kill him....._

Her old normal self was telling her to stop the Joker from sending the small piece of metal piercing through the acne infested skin of the youth.

Working against her new instincts, Nichole stood up and tightened the hold of the blanket around her with one hand. With her other she snaked it through an opening of the blanket and walked slowly behind the Joker.

She took the frame of the door in her hand, and used the side of her body to push the Joker away from the opening of the door. She quickly grabbed the pizza from the boy's hands.

"If you want to live, you better keep your mouth shut and forget everything you just saw. Is that clear?" Nichole told him calmly, as she closed the opening of the door so only her face could stick out into the cold winter air.

The boy nodded his head. "Y-Y-Yes ma'am. I promise."

"Good then run along and think of a good excuse to tell your boss as to why the pizza is gone and you have no money." Nichole added quickly, so that the boy had time to think of an excuse instead of being on the spot when his boss would question him. She shut the door tightly and locked it with both the locks.

_Time to face his anger. _She knew her small little act of kindness to that boy would cause him to be outraged, but she didn't care.

So she turned around and decided to start the argument that was bound to come, herself. "If you had killed him our location would have been given away! These walls aren't that sound proof!" She said as she banged her fist on the wall by the door. "Someone would have heard the shot and then what? Do you think before you act? And even if no one heard it, what about the body and the blood? Someone would walk by and see the blood!"

The Joker stared at her with a blank stoic expression. His hand reached forward slowly. It looked like it wanted to fit itself perfectly on her neck in a tight hold, but it didn't. Instead it reached for the pizza box from one of her hands and ripped it from her.

"You ruin all my fun. Yanno that babe? I wasn't gonna kill him. I'm not brainless. I knew what would have happened if I did. I just like to mess with people. You of all people should know that. So next time don't overreact!" He walked over to the table and slammed the cardboard box down.

He sat down in his chair and flung the box open. The Joker took a slice and began to bite into it. Cheese strands that clung to the pizza still as his mouth took a chunk of it, fell limp onto his chin giving him an odd sloppy appearance.

Nichole pressed her lips together to stop from smiling, as she remembered she was supposed to be angry at the moment. She walked over to the table and sat in the same chair she had before.

"Well I-" Nichole sighed, seeing no point to further the small war of words. "I'm sorry then. I didn't know you weren't going to kill him. I'm not a mind reader." She reached forward and grabbed her own slice.

"If you were then I'd have no fun at all." He chimed, taking another large bite; almost done with his first piece.

The pizza really hit the spot for her. They both ate in silence.

Silence...

Isolation....

No contact...

It's something she hated now more than anything: sitting with him while no words were exchanged between them caused her stomach to twist into a tight knot.

_All the sex is doing is avoiding our problems...._

"What?" The Joker asked her suddenly.

"Oh...nothing. Sorry thinking out loud." Nichole bit her tongue. Her last thought, had accidentally come out as a mumble.

After a moment of silence, the Joker spoke up again. "And what is it you are thinking?"

_Might as well give it up..._

"I'm thinking....I still don't understand you. And don't say that I shouldn't try to understand you, because I get it. I don't try to understand your motives and thoughts normally, but right now I want to....Because still nothing is making sense to me!" She dropped her fourth slice on the table. "What we are doing tonight...is avoiding the problem! I want to know...are you mad at me? Are you still boiling over with rage? When you look at me when we are just sitting around idly...do you have the urge to drive the knife into me like you used to back when I wouldn't willingly submit myself and try to kill you all the time? Why did you bring me here? Why now?....Do you hate me?"

The Joker plopped his piece of crust into his mouth and chewed it slowly; not taking his eyes off of her. They were drowning her in their brown sea of emptiness. Every word she spoke, had added water to his sea.

He then folded his hands on the table calmly, almost in a teasing like manner. "Well Nichole...You love to ask questions dontcha?"

"I ask them for you to answer them!" She leaned forward in her seat. His stubbornness was eating away at her.

The Joker then stood up, keeping his hands pressed flat palms down on the table as he did so.

"Fine then Nichole! I will give you the answers that you so desperately want to know! What we are doing tonight is not avoiding the problem. Why is that? Because there is no more problem, like I said there was none! You just keep thinking about what_ did_ happen and not about what _is _happening. You are creating the problem Nichole! I don't look back. When I do things I never stop and think about it, I just move on to the next thing at hand. When I blow a place up, I don't look back and admire it! I keep going forward and think about what I'm doing next! I am not still mad at you for what happened Nichole. I'm over it because now thinking back to it I can laugh and think its funny to see how messed up in the head you really are! I gave you those three days, not to give me space, but to give you space so that maybe you too would come to see how messed up you are! And it worked! As you were explaining to me all the things you saw and thought about when you were alone, I was smiling on the inside, seeing that you finally hit that point I knew would come one day. The day that you can't be by yourself anymore! The day you would have to latch yourself to me, because I have all the control over you! The day that you would figure out the only thing good that could happen to you for the rest of your life is physical contact with me. I find it hilarious!"

He began to laugh, holding on hand to his stomach as if his laughter caused him pain.

"I-I-I finally thought that today would be a good day to bring you back into my world. You spent a little vacation in your own little world and I can see you are finally relieved to be _home_." His voice wavered as he continued to laugh, falling back down to his seat. He slammed his hands back on the table, trying to contain his laughter. "I don't hate you Nichole. I used to, because you were always narrowly avoiding and escaping my plans for you. I never intended to do these sort of things with you Nichole, but it just happened. You facinate me Nichole. I love it to sit back and watch you become your own worst enemy. And look at how much you've changed with your perception on me. Can you answer me this: Do you hate _me_ Nichole? Do you just want to drive a knife into _me_?"

_No air..._

_No air..._

_Why is there no air in my body?_

_Head is light._

_Mouth open. Let air in._

_Inhale....Inhale deeply. Exhale. Remember to keep breathing..._

Nichole stared at him with her mouth hanging open, letting in her air; sounding as if she had run a marathon. He caused her to be at a loss for words.

_How does he do that? How does he know just what to say to cause me to feel so much under his control. Why is my palm bleeding?_

She looked down and saw her hands were clenched into fists once more, but this time her fingernails had penetrated her skin causing blood to trickle out of it and dry up under her nails; along with the skin collected under them.

"I don't know..." She told him.

_Do I hate him? Of course I do? But do I? Really? Hate? I hate myself more don't I? But I thought he has helped me. What even is hate? It is much more powerful and rage filled, than what I feel for him. If I hated him I wouldn't be having sex with him. Would I?_

"Maybe..." She shrugged as her thoughts started to convince her there was a slight chance she didn't hate him.

"Maybe...I don't hate you anymore..." She stared at the table, as her words just came out freely at this point before she could stop them. "I don't know. I did hate you. But maybe I hate you so much that I can't hate you anymore. I don't care about life...so....if I don't care, then I don't care to hate. So If I don't care to hate, then I don't hate you. If I don't hate you then what do I feel? A peace inside of me....because of acceptance. I feel at peace around you now, unless its like now when our line of questioning involves all this thinking and thoughts and-"

A crash of plates and glass caused her to jump and look up from her seat and her words stopped flowing.

The Joker had stood up from his chair once more, causing it to fall to the ground behind him. He had used one arm and slid it across the table, spilling all of its' contents to the floor.

"Then don't think anymore!" he stormed over to her, "Just accept this dysfunctional relationship we have and DEAL with it!" and he took her waist in his hands. He quickly picked her up and slammed her back into the table ripping the sheet off of her and pulled her body to the edge of the table. This all happened so fast.

The Joker tore her thighs open with his hands and without a second though, thrusted himself inside of her. Nichole groaned as she arched her back, trying to get used to this. The Joker moaned before he let out a huge puff of air. He grabbed her hips with his hands as he began to move in and out of her. Nichole grunted as she felt his fingers cutting into the skin of her hips.

"Oh God…" she moaned as she arched her back so far that she could see the other side of the room. "Could you be any more predictable?" She smirked as she laid her back down and once again wrapped her legs around his waist.

She was being sarcastic.

He chuckled amist his deep breaths and grunts. "Babe… I don't have any limits." He closed his eyes as he suddenly jacked his pace up. The sound of wet flesh hitting against each other echoed off the walls. He then let his upper body rest on hers.

She felt his heat once again....

His mouth rested by her breasts and he traced their soft delicate curves with his mouth and teeth. He was proving his control over her and she was basking in every minute of it.

She never knew acceptance could be so thrilling....

When they were done yet again, the Joker pulled himself out of her and remained leaning over her body on the table. His forearms were resting on either side of the table by her stomach. His head was inches above her stomach, dripping his sweat from his hair on to her. She was glad he didn't kiss her once during this round. She needed to be able to breathe during this one.

Her head was getting rid of all its answered questions and replacing them with him and the feeling of him inside of her.

He made her feel no longer misunderstood.

He was panting profusely at this moment and she looked down to see his sweat had caused a pool of salt and water to collect in her belly button. She took in the sight of the imprint of his face made out of face paint, that was by her breasts and stomach.

"Had enough yet?" Nichole joked, panting herself.

The Joker looked up at her and his mouth suddenly formed into an evil looking grin. "Babe, I'm just warming up. What we talked about before....this got me thinking. Maybe I am slightly wrong...Maybe it is okay to dwell on the past just a little bit..."

"What?" Nichole leaned up on her elbows. His sudden mood swing and change of thought worried her.

He nodded his head. "Yeah. It got me thinking that I don't think I have given you a fulfilling punishment for trying to kill me...."

Her eyes widened. "No...No! I was wrong! Not you! Don't start thinking like me!"

"No no no calm down babe, see this can be fixed. You might just have to do me one of those favors again." He grinned.

_He's just fucking teasing me..._ She sighed in relief. _He's just using this to his advantage to get another round going. Good...Here I thought he was gonna beat me with another belt!_

She rolled her eyes and smirked. "We are so past the point of lap dances, don't you think?"

The Joker shook his head and began to laugh. "Oh no ho ho no no. I'm not talking about you dancing Nichole...." He straighted up and walked over to the side table by the bed while Nichole laid there, dazed and confused. He pulled something out of it and walked back over to Nichole, who remained laying on the table.

Her nails dug into the table as he advanced on her.

_What did he take out?_

_Was it his knife?_

_What does he want? _

_Why do I jump to conclusions so much!?_

The Joker then went back and stood in between her legs. He leaned forward, causing her to lay herself back down, with one hand resting on the table and the other behind his back holding his unknown object.

"In fact...I'm not even planning on having you move at all." With that, the Joker placed his other hand in front of her face and steel metal hit her face just a tiny bit.

Her eyes focused on the object dangling from his hand, hitting her chin as it swayed back and forth.

_Handcuffs._

"Handcuffs?" She said out loud. She gulped, swallowing the lump in her throat. "I am...not into that.."

"Oh come on...you surely didn't think that that boiler room thing was the ONLY time I was going to put some handcuffs on you, now did you?" He grinned, shaking them in his hand teasing her. "I just want to this time to be about what I want to do and less about what you want. I want all focus to be on me. It's only one time that would be un-enjoyable for you. Is that so hard? Besides...Who knows...you may enjoy it? That be funny!"

"Is this really a punishment...or is this just something you really want to do and are using the punishment thing as an excuse to get me to agree?"

He sucked on his bottom lip for a moment. "It's just an excuse. I'm going to be blunt with you. But I'm sorry to inform you Nikki, just cause you give yourself to me and are fine with being around me now a days, it doesn't mean you're not going to have to do things you don't want to do just cause you...enjoy my company." He laughed.

She looked at the handcuffs and sighed. "There really is no way out of it." Her mind was racing at the thoughts of what he could possibly do with her in such a weak and defenseless state. "Are you going to kill me during it?"

"If you ask one more time if I am going to kill you, I may just say yes and do it so I don't have to hear you ask again." He growled. "Nichole...I'll tell you when I'm going to kill you. I'm always straight forward with you with my intentions. I'm not going to kill you. Not tonight."

"I...believe you." She responded, quickly seeing he was growing antsy.

"Good. Then can I believe you when I tell you to get to the bed and stay there while I go into the bathroom for a moment and you respond with a 'yes I will'?" He let his other hand off the table for support as he straightened up; his hand gliding across her body as he did so.

"Yes I will." She smirked, mimicking his tone of voice.

"Be right back then sweetie." He teased and patted her head like an obedient dog.

The Joker then walked behind where she was on the table towards the bathroom. Only when he shut the door, did Nichole sit up and get off of the table. She bent her back forward and backwards when her feet were on the ground, easing out the kinks and nicks in it.

"I'm going to feel so sore tomorrow." She mumbled to herself. She reached a hand back and felt a few bruises that were on the back of her hips and shoulders. Going to the sink, she poured herself a glass of water and chugged it down, clearing her dry throat. A small towel that would be used for dishes was hanging from the handle to the mini fridge. Nichole took it and ran it under the sink. She then let it clean off her face and chest that was covered in two different sweats and makeup. Throwing the towel into the sink, she made her way to the bed and laid down on it.

In the distance she could hear the Joker in the bathroom, running the sink water, as if he himself were freshening up after all their little events throughout the evening.

She had to chuckle to herself now.

Their fight was over.

She wondered what life would be like when they were at the warehouse now.

_What would a normal day be like?_

_What would we do?_

_What would I tell Jasper?_

_I cannot wait to see his face when I see him and tell him what happened._

She laughed louder picturing Jasper in her mind, not noticing the Joker had returned to the room and was standing at the end of the bed watching her laugh to herself like a child.

"Am I missing a joke? I don't like it when I miss something funny Nichole." The Joker grinned at her small shriek of terror when she realized the Joker was there. He snaked himself out of the shirt he had kept on and let it hit the floor.

Nichole eyed him for a second, "… Now wait ju-"

BAM!

In the next moment, the Joker jumped forward landing roughly on top of her; crushing her rip cage and body with his. He quickly found and grabbed one of her wrists.

"WAIT! NOT SO FAST!" Nichole shrieked, but he had her one hand clipped in the cuff, "Can't we just discuss this for a second?!". He let the other cuff swing around one of the tiny poles on the headboard and then found her other wrist and cuffed that one.

Her body wriggled beneath him uncomfortably. "Stop this is hurting me." She choked out as his elbow was now digging into her lungs.

"Babe, I already told you. This round is about what I want not you." He reached one hand back to her wrists and painfully tightly the handcuffs. If she moved ever so slightly they would dig into her skin now.

"I didn't think you were actually serious and going to go through with it." She grunted as she tugged at the handcuffs on her wrists and felt the metal cutting off the circulation in her hands. She quickly retracted her hands and let them lay limp above her head.

"I wasn't fooling around Nichole." Out of nowhere, he had two more pairs of handcuffs, that had been in his hand unseen by her.

After a long struggling and screaming match (on Nichole's part) the Joker eventually had both of her ankles cuffed and attached to either side of the bed posts at the foot of the bed.

Seeing her unable to move, excited him...and she could see and feel the said excitement against her skin...

"This is awkward as hell!" She screamed.

Suddenly the Joker had a knife in his hand. A nervous laugh escaped her mouth. The Joker sat straddling her waist and then mimicked her nervous laugh cruelly before throwing the knife across the room. He suddenly reached behind her head and grabbed a pillow. He threw the pillow at the lamp by one of the sides of the bed, causing it to crash to the floor and a shattering noise to echo off the walls.

Darkness surrounded them.

They only could feel one another and hear each other's breaths.

"Let's see if you really are a mind reader Nichole. Cause right now, you won't be able to tell what I'm going to do or when I'm going to do something." His laugh vibrated down into her body.

The Joker then laid his body on top of her, leaving no room for her to move. "Hopefully it's not awkward now because you can't see me!"

His hand reached up and took her hair in it, pulling her head to the left roughly, so her neck was at the proper angle; exposed and bare. This unexpected act caused her breathing to pick up enormously as her mind raced on what he may do.

He felt with his fingertips the very faded raw skin that represented the marks he had made on her last time.

"I guess I'm going to have to redo these marks. Can't have them fading on you now can I?"

"Oh fuck...No..." She tried to move her head to the right and downward to block her neck from his mouth, but his hold on her hair kept her head pulled to the left, giving him full access to his target of choice.

His mouth met her skin on her neck and wasted no time finding the perfect spot and sucking on it. His saliva dripped down her neck and shoulder as he nuzzled his whole face into that one spot of her neck. His scars were brushing against her neck and shoulder uncomfortably.

Her whole upper body tensed as his mouth was literally sucking up all the moisture and life from her skin. She felt it become raw under his lip, smearing makeup on her in the process. She let out a gasping scream in pain before she felt one of his hands clamp over her mouth.

Her hands automatically tried to come down and pull his mouth from her neck. In doing so, her hands became even more numb from the constant pulling and cutting of metal on them. She let them rest on the pillow once more, hearing the clanking of the metal against the bed poles, as they slide down it when she relaxed her hands.

"Stop." She gasped when he removed his hand from her mouth as she felt his teeth gather a small fold of her skin in them, then continue to suck at her like a tick searching for blood.

He felt like a vampire to her. But one that had not penetrated the skin and sucking up the blood.

She tried to bend her legs up, but realized he had positioned her in a way on the bed, so both her arm and leg cuffs were at their fullest extending point.

"AHHHHH!...Ugh stop." She gasped out one more, as he suddenly yanked her head to the left even further for no reason, causing her neck to crack.

Nichole froze for a second, petrified.

"Relax," she heard his voice, "Babe, I didn't break your neck."

And with that remark, he continued to suck the skin of her neck.

He was being a leech. A vacuum.

She wasn't sure when he finished with this if there would be any layer of skin left. She just laid there, whimpering and groaning in pain.

"If you wouldn't mind..." The Joker said as he raised his mouth away from her for a moment. "I'm trying to enjoy myself over here, could you keep it down?"

She felt him press his lower self into her at the same time as he moved his mouth from her neck to her shoulder where he bit down into it....hard.

The unexpected pain inside of her when he entered her caused a loud yelp to come out of her.

_There is something wrong here...._ She blinked back the tears that automatically rushed to her eyes in reflex.

Due to the fact she wasn't 'turned on' by the acts and 'foreplay' he had done, she wasn't fully prepared for him to start pounding himself into her.

"Shit!" She yelled, shaking her head back and forth violently, feeling the blood run down her shoulder from where he bit as well as him inside of her.

He moved fast and painfully into her, without missing a single beat as his mouth moved down to her breasts.

"STOP!," she screamed, "FUCKING STOP! YOU'RE HURTING ME!"

His hand left her hair, ripping out strands of it in the process carelessly and clamped it over her gaping mouth once again, muffling her screams and cries as he laughed hysterically. One of his hands snaked around her waist and pulled her body up to meet his on every beat. Each time in doing so, her hands and legs would strain on the cuffs and create a bigger and bigger indent in the skin and veins each time.

_Why did he have to do them so tight?!_

"Keep those sounds going, girly," he chuckled.

He removed his hand from her mouth and fastened it to one of her breasts and began to pinch and twist at her nipple as if he was trying to detach it from her body. Just as she thought he reached his limit, he kept twisting and turning it between his two fingers. His mouth found her other breast and bit down on her nipple. Hard. But not enough to do permanent damage.

The next sound to echo off the walls of the hotel was her shrill screams of agony.

"OH GOD STOP!" She screamed, her hands taking hold of the headboard's poles to grip something to brace herself. Her whole body was shaking in pain.

She wanted this favor to be over and done with. And the entire time, he kept on pounding into her, not once stopping.

He did not listen or even acknowledge her screams of pain. They seemed to coax him to continue faster. Though her body was getting used and adjusted to him inside her now, her tender breasts and neck were throbbing from his wicked movements.

His hand left her nipple and took in her whole breast in his rough hand, digging his finger nails into it, causing indents to form; some bleeding.

Suddenly his mouth left her breast, giving her a moment to soak in the lessening pain. It didn't last long though. He took his hand off her breast as well, and placed it under her chin pushing her head upwards so she'd be facing the wall behind her. He put his mouth on her neck under her chin and began to suck on the delicate skin there.

The next few times he pushed himself into her, he made sure they were deep and slow.

Another open wound was made on her neck as he bit too hard on a tiny piece of skin between his teeth and red oozed from her pores. The bite marks were well sized, but they were bleeders making it seem much worse.

She let out a long groan of discomfort as the small pain came and faded on the mark. Once it dulled she released her hands from their grip on the bed's posts and let them lay on the pillow above her head.

He moaned into her neck, rubbing his face on her skin; letting his lips wander all over her raw red patches.

_He has to be done soon..._She hoped to herself, staring blindly at the ceiling.

His hands suddenly wriggled their way underneath her rear and dug their claws into them. He pushed her up to meet his every thrust; causing her ankles and wrists to pull on their restraints. Each thrust up, his nails would go deeper into her skin, groping at her as her screams and groans grew louder.

Sure enough just as she was about to yell at him to stop, the familiar feeling of him finishing off went through her body.

And with that...a heavy sigh of satisfaction.

_The favor is over with. Finally! _Her whole body relaxed underneath him and she sunk further down into the mattress.

The pain in her neck was there still, but it wasn't anything she couldn't handle. Now a days physical pain wasn't a big deal. Mental pains were worse. So she could deal with the throbbing feeling that would pester her for a few days in her neck and on his marks. When the wounds were made of course it did hurt and her mind could only focus on that pain, but prolonged pains were fine with her.

She wondered how her neck looked at this point.

His breath remained by her neck as he panted to himself.

The small trickles of blood from the two tiny puncture marks in the form of his teeth on her neck had ceased flowing. Still though, her neck felt as if it had been skinned; missing many layers of its protection.

"Okay…" she said, her voice was shaking from the shock of what just happened, "you had your fun now get off." She breathed out in a panting whisper. She didn't realize how much that had worn her out until this moment in time.

The Joker's body stilled for a moment. It seemed to her that even he was holding his breath. He leaned his upper body slowly off of her and looked down at her face; his eyes were perfectly adjusted to the dark. Nichole then felt him get up off of the bed, heard footsteps, and then the over head light was turned on.

Nichole groaned and squeezed her eyes shut at the sudden light. His hand went to the cuffs by her wrists holding a key.

Feeling it unclick and the ease of pressure off her wrist; she shut her eyes enjoying the sudden air around her skin. She shut her eyes and took in deep breaths to slow her heart rate down.

When he went down by her legs and undid the cuffs around her ankles, she went into a sitting position, rubbing at her wrists that had large bruising indents in them. When the last cuff was off of her she immediately got off the bed and went into the bathroom, leaving him no time to speak or even look at her, slamming the door shut and flicking on the lights.

She gasped at her reflection, seeing huge red marks that were literally the color of blood, surrounding her neck; some even having a tinge of purple to them already. It was easier to point out what part of her skin wasn't affected by his mouth; the minority. Her fingers glided across her skin slowly, caressing it to dull the pain. She brought her hands down under the sink water and splashed cold water onto her neck. Then she looked down and inspected her breasts, which were a little less worse than her neck, but not by much; they had noticeable hand marks on them as well as bite marks and hickeys.

"Ugh...." She shuddered seeing the purple marks by her nipple that had already bruised over and looked menacing. She splashed water onto her chest as well, even though it honestly felt as if it was doing nothing.

Taking a quick bathroom break after that, she returned to the mirror by the sink and washed her hands. Afterwards she noticed the indents on her wrists were fading slowly, but the purple coloring of her skin stayed. She rubbed at it a little more before exiting the bathroom.

Once she was back by the bed, she saw the Joker shutting the drawer where he had returned the cuffs. He then sat himself on the bed with his back against the headboard. He stared at her as she entered the room, and one side of his mouth was curved into a smirk.

A slight anger coarse through her upon seeing his twisted smug smirk. She didn't like that he felt so proud of himself for being able to 'basically' get her into the handcuffs without a fight. It was a small flame of rage that quickly went away as she sat down next to him on the bed. Her mood swings were worse now a days. She mentally cursed herself.

"Well I did your favor for you." Nichole stated to him, giving him a look like he owed her a 'thank you'.

"So?" He asked, nudging her side with his elbow; hitting one of her bruises causing her to wince.

"So shouldn't you at least say thanks or something? I didn't even put up a fight. I let you do what you wanted." Nichole rubbed at her hip with her fingers.

"I shouldn't have to thank you for something that should happen naturally. It's like with a pet. Do you thank a dog every time it goes the bathroom outdoors instead of on your carpet? No you don't. It is what is expected. You only punish it when it has an accident in your house." The Joker sent a toothy grin her way.

"I should be more angry that you are comparing me to a dog, but right now I'm more focused on the fact you come up with the oddest analogies ever." She shook her head.

Another thing her mind has grown immune to by him. The words and comparisons he has for her.

_This is sad...._ She had to laugh at herself internally.

Subject change.

"So are you satisfied? Did your 'pet' do what she was suppose to" She asked sarcastically, giving him a cheeky smile.

A pause.

He curled his upper lip in thought. "No no the question really is Nichole are YOU satisfied?"

"Me?" She asked. "After that favor? No way....But you got what you wanted so I'm satisfied that your satisfied, because that means I'm in the clear for the night....." She nodded and glanced out the window, spotting the signs of early morning sun peaking through the curtains. "Errr...morning....I'm in the clear for the morning..."

_Damn we've been up all night?_

"Oh I wouldn't say that..." He chimed.

* * *

_If this is his thank you, then I need to do these favors more often.... _Her mind greedily thought.

They had migrated towards the center of the bed to give themselves room. He was still sitting, with his legs laid out in front of him. She was on his lap with her legs curled around his waist as he moved into her.

Slowly and deeply each time.

Both of their hands were on one another's back, fighting for power as they dug their nails into each other's skin taking in the heat of the moment.

She could feel his sweat on every inch of her body, pressed into him. His body fit all her curves and they were like a conjoined puzzle piece with no space between them.

_This never gets old..._

Their tongues were met at their own personal battlefield. His moved roughly in his mouth, pushing her tongue aside as he explored her moist mouth. He pushed on the roof of her mouth, causing her back to arch from the sensation and slight discomfort; pushing her more into him. She tried to fight back, but he had no weakness in his mouth. She tried to find it, but it wasn't there.

He pushed his further back in her mouth, causing her to gag for a slight moment. She raked her nails down his back to give him the 'hint' he was choking her.

He understood the hint of course. But it did not stop him from as always causing her a discomfort during their heated moments.

No matter how much pleasure she did get, there were always a few moments during the act that would hurt her.

It was the price for the end product and feeling.

She had to fight for that feeling to explode within her body and trail along her nerves to her stomach where she would feel very light and at peace for moments.

Without thinking, she let one of her hands run up to clamp onto his hair. Her hand became soaked with his sweat and greasy. It felt as if she had submerged her hand into a bucket of water. Slightly grossed out she still leaned her body back, taking deep breaths of air. Reaching back, she placed one hand on his leg and slid the other down to the back of his neck as she grinded him.

After a few moments of this new movement, he took one of his hands and placed it behind her own neck pushing it into his.

Their teeth hit one another; the vibrating click noise it had made her feel uneasy.

He bit down on her lip slightly, which made her legs tighten around his waist even more. Exactly as he wanted.

His other hand fastened around her waist pulling her body in and out of him.

She let out a moan into his mouth as he seemed to hit the right spot within her.

The feeling of her fast, uneven breath producing moans in his mouth encouraged him to go faster.

They could feel every breath each other made.

Every beat each other's heart made.

Every little movement was felt.

They were so close to each other it was causing her head to spin.

Each droplet of sweat coming out of their skin was felt as it slowly dripped down and clung to the other's skin. They were one yet again and both enjoying the moment.

Her whole body started to feel light as she knew her moment of bliss was coming. Her hands went down his chest for the moment and dragged along his muscles. She brought her arms underneath his and let her hands reach up to rest on the back of his shoulders as she tightened her grip on him; tensing completely.

She felt her muscles tighten and then release in one faithful moment as he deeply went into her; hips lined up perfectly.

A very loud moan came out of her mouth as she let her lips leave his. She shut her eyes and let the side of her face lean on his. A big intake of breath, helped keep her from feeling even more light headed than she already was.

Her hands on his shoulder pulled at his body, and he groaned himself feeling her body in its most accepting state.

She opened her eyes and felt complete.

Driven wild by the high she was on.

Satisfaction spread through her body; even her fingertips were tingling. She could literally feel her pleasure spreading like light through her body. Her soul was opened up letting in the very thing that was unwanted so many months ago.

It felt like years ago.

It didn't matter.

She didn't drag around the corpse of her memories anymore. She lived in the now.

The now was here and the now **is** here.

With her moans and movements of approval it did not take long for him to reach his point as well. His body tightened and relaxed with her.

There she sat on his lap, panting for breath. They leaned against each other's chests to remain up. The sweat between them was drying slowly.

The Joker suddenly leaned himself back, so his head rested at the end of the bed; taking Nichole down with him. She landed with her head on his shoulder and her legs straightened out to rest on top of his. One of his arms rested tiredly on her back that had many scratch marks and bruises on it now. Dry blood was in various patches of her skin where it had leaked out of her scratches.

Her body looked beat up and yet right now she was smiling and satisfied with the final outcome. She was able to completely take her mind off the little favor he _thrust _upon her and focus on the good of the night.

They could feel each other's hearts were sky rocketing.

"So Nichole-" He breathed out.

Knock. Knock.

"It's 11 in the morning....you gotta check out." Came a voice from the door. "Sorry boss..."

The Joker growled in annoyance, to show he had heard. He let his arm around her back pull on her shoulder so she rolled over off of him and lay next to him. The unexpectedness caused her to gasp, and since she was already out of breath, it almost felt as if she had the wind knocked out of her. She looked over at him as he already had gotten off the bed and was beginning to gather his clothes off the ground and putting them on quickly.

He looked down at her as he was buckling his belt. "Well hurry up babe, you heard the man. We are getting the boot." He winked. "I'm surprised we didn't get kicked out earlier, I mean jeez you were making a lot of noise." He began to laugh as she rolled her eyes.

Nichole hopped off the bed and found her clothing as well, changing into them quickly. She was just about to put her dress on when the Joker suddenly grabbed her by the waist and picked her up so she was horizontal, with her hip resting against the side of his jacket covered hip; carrying her as if she was a book of package.

"Too slow!" He teased and continued to walk towards the door.

"Hey! I can't go out there in just a bra and underwear! Let me put my dress on!" She tried to claw at his leg for him to let her go.

He did.

She banged on the floor with a small gasp. "Ouch! What the hell!?"

Seeing the look in his eyes, she took the moment to put her dress on quickly and stood herself up. They walked outside quickly to avoid any strange looks.

After all, they had makeup smeared on both of their faces, large marks on her neck and chest that were visible in her current attire, and they were both wanted by the police. Once in the van, the Joker slammed his foot on the gas and sped off to the warehouse.

They both were a bit antsy during the small traffic they hit.

A good sleep was in store for both of them. Sleeping the day and part of the night away was what they _intended_ to do.

Her elbow rested on the compartment that one would store things in that rested between the driver and passenger seats. Slowly her head made its way to the Joker's shoulder as she shut her eyes. He quickly shrugged his shoulder causing her head to bounce off of him and laughed.

"Not tired are you?" He asked.

She shook her head and mumbled. "No...just resting my eyes."

In a few silent minutes they were back at the warehouse. Nichole didn't know why but being back at the warehouse with all _current_ problems between them solved, made her feel more awake and at peace. She wondered where Jasper and his friends were and when she would be able to tell him what happened.

Her second wind was coming at her. When he pulled into the garage and parked, she threw open her door and climbed out. The familiar smell of dirt and gasoline filled her nostrils.

_Home...._

She heard the Joker get out of the van as well. Feeling too active to stand still she entered the warehouse and went to the kitchen to grab a drink. Sipping her newly poured water, she watched the Joker do the same and grab a bag of chips. He put it on the table and sat in a chair, reaching into the bag and eating its contents. Nichole sat next to him and ate some of the chips as well, not caring if he had decided to 'claim' the chips and they were off limits to her. She was starving! But he didn't stop her, and tiredly stared at the table.

Once the bag was empty, he tossed it to the ground and stood up heading towards the stairs. She followed behind him and trudged up the creaky stairs. Passing by the second floor, she peered down the hallway and met eyes with Jasper who had peeked his head out his door to see who had come into the building.

He pointed to her, then to himself; while mouthing, "You have explaining to do!"

She clamped a hand over her mouth to contain her laughter at the priceless face Jasper had made.

The two entered the Joker's room and he shut and locked the door behind him. He kicked off his shoes and shrugged out of his jacket.

They both went into the bed that Nichole had wanted to be in those three days of insanity. She took in the disgusting smell that she had grown so used to.

She rolled over and faced him and saw him smile darkly.

She knew that smile oh too well.

For the same smile was on her face as well.

With that they assumed the position and ten minutes later were panting in each others arms, satisfied once again. Both completely ready for sleep.

* * *

**Kait:** Just letting you know, Sydney wrote from scratch the part in this chapter where the Joker gives Nichole...um...where he okay whatever i'll be blunt with ya the part he eats her out. Sydney wrote it cause I can't write that haha.

**Sydney:** _(shrugs)...._ i don't think it was as good as the ..."umbrella" scene though... but yes, i hardly had to edit alot of the descriptions kait wrote for the sex scenes actually! She has gotten wicked good!

**Kait:** I'm gonna say the same thing I just AIM'd you with...BITCH! Stop making me blush!

**Sydney:** Please please review everyone. Next chapter...WE ARE SO EXCITED.

**Kait:** In a sense the next chapter could be like considered the end of part 2 to Eye Candy and the begining of part 3 for Eye Candy. It's one of those deals. Part one of Eye candy was about the set up. Part 2 was the transformation. what on earth could be part 3?? I don't know. But we are hitting you with two double whammies next chapter. Teehee! Reviews make my typing go faster and Sydney's editing go faster! So review and make us happy. Keep our minds on Batman and not Red Eye!

**Shout out: Raine 13!** Hey giiiiiirrrll so I watched the movie with commentary. Oh my flipping heathus Christ! the part they go "the more he likes her and wants her and the more she is repulsed by him, the more he sees he will never have a beautiful woman like this to come home to and love." I was flipping out! Wes Craven you are my hero! Jackson and Lisa forever!


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